Mookie Betts Embracing Outside Narratives About Dodgers This Offseason

L.A.'s superstar infielder is fully embracing the villain role.

There's a new big bad team in Major League Baseball, and they are called the Los Angeles Dodgers. Typically, those outside of Los Angeles tend to dislike the Dodgers.

Although they aren't the defending champions, everybody will be gunning for the Dodgers this season. Everybody will have their games against L.A. circled on their calendar. 

The Dodgers have a target on their backs the size of California, and star Mookie Betts is fully embracing it. 

In a recent interview with SportsNet LA's John Hartung, Betts said he and his teammates will embrace the outside narratives created this off-season. 

"I mean yeah, I think you have too. That's why you sign with the Dodgers cause you're going to get a chance to win, each and every year."

Mookie Betts speaks on trying to win a Gold Glove at second base, his impressions of Shohei as a teammate, and how he spent his time this offseason. pic.twitter.com/GNqOXUCaCt

— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) February 17, 2024

The Dodgers are the new evil empire in the league. At least that's what the other 29 teams in the league say, so why not embrace it? 

Los Angeles was already viewed as the villain before this newly revamped super team, so there's no difference except that there is more pressure to win.

"Those are things on the outside that are put on us. So what do you do."

That's why you become a Dodger. You want that pressure of millions of other fans rooting against you. Every game will mean something, and how much better can it get than that? 

The Dodgers aren't just worried about the 2024 season. This team is in it for the next decade or so. Title number eight is what these players have their eyes on, but multiple titles are the only things that will matter in his platinum era of Dodger baseball. 

Betts is in it to win it and is tackling this narrative head-on.