Come on Dodgers, you have to realize what you are doing to your best player by constantly throwing his season into uncertainty, abusing his body, disrupting his rituals and damaging his spirit.
Come on Dodgers, after what happened again on Friday, your mandate is clear.
Keep moving Mookie!
Stop letting him recklessly move back and forth across the field and the batting order like he’s the star of a game of beer pong.
Read more: Dodgers move Mookie Betts to shortstop, Gavin Lux to second base amid defensive woes
Stop treating him like he’s an old craftsman with marginal talent, zero power, and no voice.
Stop taking his incredible character and inimitable team spirit for granted, or you risk him following the example of other talents who are being misused in this era of athlete empowerment.
Tip: This guy doesn’t have to ask you for a trade.
You laugh, the Dodgers scoff, but few believe this lovable, selfless star would ever cause the kind of commotion that a whispered or shouted “get me out of here” demand would. Plus, he’s making $30 million a year on a deal that runs through 2032, which limits his appeal somewhat.
But he’s only human, and there’s only so much pride he can swallow and perceived disrespect he can tolerate. The Dodgers seem to have reached this breaking point. They need to stop scheming, reshuffling, and pushing.
They need to back off and let Mookie be Mookie.
“I’ve said all along it doesn’t matter where I play as long as I play and help the team win,” Betts said Friday afternoon while sitting in the dugout surrounded by reporters.
Believe that. But believe that the Dodgers need to stop testing the durability of those words.
The latest change came Friday, three days after they announced Betts would play shortstop upon his return from the injured list next week, the Dodgers announced he would instead return to right field.
Read more: ‘Uncharted Territory’: Is Mookie Betts a sustainable solution at shortstop for the Dodgers?
This after they started the season by moving him from second base to shortstop.
This after they moved him from right field to second base last season.
And this while they announced this week that he would leave his beloved leadoff position and bat second, so that Shohei Ohtani could continue to bat first.
And now a spot in the bullpen and a job as a lawn mower?
Betts has taken it all with grace. His infectious attitude makes him this season’s MVP, even if he never plays another game. Still, by turning him around so soon after the last turnaround, the Dodgers didn’t look professional, didn’t sound right, and didn’t feel right.
Make no mistake, Betts belongs in right field. He won six Gold Gloves there, remember? The Dodgers are their best team with slick Miguel Rojas at shortstop, the rising Gavin Lux at second and Betts in right.
That’s why they should never have moved Betts from right field in the first place. By making the first unconventional substitution last season, they sent Betts on an odyssey that is both inappropriate and unfair for a player of his stature.
Read more: Plaschke: Wrong, Dodgers! Moving Mookie Betts to shortstop is a misguided, maddening move
What do you think LeBron James would do if the Lakers asked him to change his game? He’d immediately tweet his displeasure and they’d cave, that’s what.
How would Kawhi Leonard react if the Clippers openly pressured him to play more games over the last few years? He’d shut down, that’s what, and they’d have to lure him back.
While other superstars in this town call the shots, Betts just soaks it all up. While other superstars in this town submit to no one, Betts seemingly submits to everyone.
Did you hear what he said this week when asked if he would give up his coveted leadoff spot to Ohtani because Ohtani was hitting well when Betts was injured? A switch made despite Betts becoming an eight-time All-Star by hitting leadoff?
“You can’t really say anything about it,” Betts said. “Whatever Shohei says, it happens, and then we adjust.”
That’s as close to bitterness as Betts will come, but it speaks volumes about a potentially divisive clubhouse issue. If a two-time World Series champion and former MVP feels like a rookie with no playoff experience is running things, how do the guys with lesser resumes feel?
Read more: Mookie Betts and Dodgers agree he should move from shortstop to right field
I asked Betts why he doesn’t complain more about not being given the same freedom that most other teams give their stars. Why doesn’t he act more like the successful player he is?
“There’s only one Mookie,” he said. “I don’t care. I want to win. Keep that at the forefront and the rest is just what it is.”
The Dodgers are incredibly lucky to have him as their Mookie. Andrew Friedman did his homework when he traded for Betts before the 2020 season. Despite his recent postseason struggles, Betts has become a leader by example… and example… and example.
“He’s a superstar, which is rare,” Dodger general manager Brandon Gomes said. “He’s — and I think we have a lot of them on our team — ‘Hey, I’ll take on any challenge that helps the team.’ He’s a guy who puts the team first. … At the end of the day, he’s just ‘I’m good with anything. Let’s win a World Series.'”
During his meeting with the media on Friday, Betts publicly indicated that he was doing well.
He said it was largely his idea in recent days to move away from shortstop after realizing Rojas, who also returned from an injury, was a better option there.
“I usually went to them,” he said. “I said, ‘Listen, I believe I can do it, but I want to win, man.’ I want to win. I don’t know if I have the best solution for that.’”
Read more: Hernández: Mookie Betts is coming back from injury soon, but where will the Dodgers play him?
He’s right, Rojas is a better shortstop, but Betts wasn’t a bad shortstop and no one worked harder at his position this season. Betts had to spend hours on ground balls in the previous months to get the hang of the position.
“I think it’s the challenge that I really enjoyed,” he said. “I don’t know if it was the shortstop thing per se. I just haven’t been challenged in a long time. So that task, that challenge of being able to play shortstop in the big leagues and help the Dodgers? I would take it on and I’m glad I did. I’m definitely proud of myself for doing that.”
A lot of pride. A lot of work. All for nothing. Whatever Betts says, that must hurt. He should never have been moved to shortstop. The Dodgers should have gotten a shortstop in the offseason and they would never have had this problem.
Betts’ story is rooted in the Dodgers using him on the field as a kind of human camouflage to cover up previous failures.
The outcome reached on Friday is partly good. Betts is back in right field where he belongs. It is the roundabout way they have to get there that is so difficult.
And by the way, is Betts really going to bat second for the rest of the season? I asked him, half-jokingly, why didn’t he negotiate a move back to right field for a return to the top of the order? That feels like something LeBron would do, right?
“No, uh uh,” he said. “We have Shohei there. He’s pretty good too.”
The next few weeks will tell if Betts likes hitting in his new spot. It will also show if Lux can keep playing second base and Betts – fingers crossed – can stay in right field.
At this point, there appear to be no guarantees about Mookie Betts’ lineup or field play, other than that he will play the season in the worst possible position: a kind of limbo.
Friday’s eventual victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates began with newest Dodger legend Dusty Baker throwing the first pitch to Betts, who looked pretty handsome crouching behind home plate wearing a catcher’s mitt and…
No.
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
