Dodgers give Betts big deal
LOS ANGELES — Even before Mookie Betts played his first game in Dodger Blue, the superstar outfielder decided his future is in Los Angeles. Betts and the Dodgers have struck Major League Baseball’s first big-money deal since the coronavirus pandemic decimated the sport’s economics, with Betts agreeing Wednesday to a $365 million, 12-year contract through 2032. The massive deal removes the top offensive player from next offseason’s class of free agents and puts the longtime Boston Red Sox slugger in the middle of the L.A. lineup for what he thinks will be the rest of his career. The Dodgers only acquired Betts in a trade Feb. 10, but he eagerly bypassed the uncertainties of free agency for a secure future with an organization that already feels like home. “I just love being here,” Betts said in a video conference call from Dodger Stadium, where he will make his Dodgers debut tonight against San Francisco. “I love everything about here. I’m here to win some rings and bring championships back to L.A. That’s all I’m focused on.” Betts’ new deal is baseball’s second-largest in total dollars behind the $426.5 million, 12-year contract for Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout covering 2019-30. They are arguably the top two outfielders in the game, and now both have deals that could keep them playing just 32 miles apart for at least the next decade.
› TORONTO — The state of Pennsylvania won’t allow the Toronto Blue Jays to play at PNC Park in Pittsburgh amid the coronavirus pandemic, health officials announced Wednesday, becoming the second jurisdiction to say no to the team with the delayed MLB season finally set to begin this week. Canada already denied the Blue Jays’ request to play in Toronto because the regular-season schedule would require frequent travel back and forth from the United States, where COVID-19 cases are surging. The Blue Jays and Pirates had been waiting to see if they got permission from Pennsylvania officials to proceed with the plan to have PNC Park fill in for the Rogers Centre. Canada has flattened the coronavirus curve, but the number of new confirmed cases of the coronavirus reported daily by Allegheny County — which includes Pittsburgh and 1.2 million residents — has increased tenfold in the last two weeks, compared with the two weeks in June before what officials there called an alarming spike in cases. Toronto opens the regular season on Friday at Tampa Bay. The Blue Jays’ “home” opener is scheduled for next Wednesday against the Washington Nationals, the reigning World Series champions.
COLLEGE
› The Senate Judiciary Committee wants to have a bipartisan plan in place to regulate the way college athletes can be compensated for name, image and likeness rights by Sept. 15, Sen. Lindsey Graham said Wednesday. The Republican from South Carolina also conceded during a hearing on college athletics: “I don’t know if we can pass a bill between now and the end of this Congress.” NCAA president Mark Emmert was the headliner among the witnesses who testified during the hearing on protecting the integrity of college athletics. The NCAA is in the process of crafting legislation to change change its rules and permit college athletes to earn money for things like endorsement and sponsorship deals, appearance fees and social media promotions. The association’s board of governors wants detailed plans in place by November that can be voted on by member schools in January. Emmert and other college sports leaders are also asking for help from federal lawmakers to protect the reforms they put in place from legal challenges, and to fend off a growing number of state laws that could usurp NCAA rules.