MASHANTUCKET, Conn. — To the top of the organization, keeping Mookie Betts in a Boston Red Sox uniform is the highest priority.

“He’s one of the great players of our generation,” said Tom Werner, the Sox chairman, at Red Sox Winter Weekend at Foxwoods Casino. “Obviously if we have conversations they will be private, but it’s our hope he’ll be a Red Sox player for his whole baseball career.”

Betts hasn’t been one to tip his hand, but he made it clear he knows his worth as he’s negotiated with the Red Sox for a record-setting one-year deal in arbitration this year. He’ll make $20 million in 2019, just his second year of arbitration eligibility. He can test free agency after 2020.

“Contract things are kind of tough to come up with, especially with both sides and kind of how the economics and all those things work,” Betts said Saturday. “I love Boston, love my teammates, love the fans and all those type of things, so we’ll just continue to see what happens.”

The Red Sox president, Sam Kennedy, said the team ideally would keep Betts for “his entire career.”

“Certainly understand, you try to put yourself in the other person’s shoes, he’s going to want to see what the market looks like and understand that,” Kennedy said. “But we’ve made it crystal clear that we want him a part of the Red Sox organization long term. We were chatting last night, I don’t know why a player would ever want to play anywhere other than Boston. That comes from a very biased person. I’m a Bostonian. But you look around at the fan support, you look at this ownership group, the commitment to winning, the great history and tradition.

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“Talk to a lot of alums who have been here and gone other places and I just, I think a lot of them wish they had stayed in Boston and finished their careers here.”

Manager Alex Cora’s plans for a new lineup in 2019 look good to those who will have to adjust.

New leadoff hitter Andrew Benintendi said he’s fine switching spots with Betts, who will now hit second.

“I’ve hit leadoff before,” said Benintendi, who hit .322 with a .979 OPS in 21 games out of the leadoff spot when Betts was hurt in 2018.

“I’m going to try to set the tone like Mookie did.”

Betts said Cora called him to chat for 30 to 45 minutes about the change.

“Cora hasn’t put us in the wrong position yet, so there’s no reason to start questioning him now,” Betts said.

Was he surprised?

“Initially, yeah,” Betts said. “But he didn’t come without facts and stats.”


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