Mookie Betts paying for Red Sox team dinner after record arbitration

The Boston Red Sox will enjoy a team dinner on Tuesday night in Seattle ahead of their season-opener, and the dinner will be generously hosted by Mookie Betts.

Back in February, Betts and the Red Sox agreed to a $20 million settlement to avoid arbitration. That was a record amount for a player in his second year of arbitration. When Betts and the Sox agreed to the deal, manager Alex Cora joked that the reigning MVP would pay for a team dinner because of how well he did salary-wise.

Mookie Betts is paying for team dinner before Opening Day. Cora: “He crushed arbitration.”

— Chris Mason (@ByChrisMason) February 18, 2019

Fast forward a month and that’s exactly what is happening. Betts is treating the team to dinner, and Cora joked that nobody feels sorry for the outfielder over the cost.

Alex Cora said that Dustin Pedroia hosted the team at his house last night.

Cora on Pedroia’s house- “Wow.”

Cora also told us that Mookie Betts will be sponsoring a team dinner tomorrow night but it will be more expensive than last year
“No one feels sorry for him.”#RedSox

— Guerin Austin (@guerinaustin) March 25, 2019

This is just the start of big pay days to come for Betts. He has another year of arbitration next year and then will be able to become a free agent after that. Betts is not expecting to sign a contract extension prior to hitting free agency. He’s set to cash in big after proving himself as one of the best players in the game.