Mookie Betts was asking for a near-record salary and got it on Wednesday, when a third-party arbitration panel settled his case and sided with Betts over the Red Sox.
Betts will receive a $10.5 million salary in 2018, his first year of arbitration. It’s the second-highest salary ever given to a first-year arbitration candidate and is behind only Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant, the 2016 NL MVP, who agreed to a $10.85-million salary with the Cubs in early January without needing a third-party arbiter.
The Red Sox had filed at $7.5 million, a number underneath the MLB Trade Rumors projection, which was $8.