Bloom expects Mookie to be with Red Sox on Opening Day

Despite trade rumors continuing to swirl and his long-term future with the club remaining in doubt, the Boston Red Sox anticipate outfielder Mookie Betts will be in the Opening Day lineup.

"That's really been my expectation all along," Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said Wednesday, according to Ian Browne of MLB.com. "I think big picture, and this applies to everything, we're not doing our jobs if we're not open to anything that improves our chances to compete as successfully and as often as possible over the course of the next decade.

"That has kind of been our guiding principle as we have accessed interest in any of our players. But you do that with the expectation that they will be here. And that will certainly be the case with Mookie."

The 2018 AL MVP has one year of control remaining before hitting free agency for the first time. Betts, 27, has indicated he plans on testing the open market and has rebuffed overtures to sign an extension. He's set to earn $27 million in 2020 after agreeing to record terms for an arbitration-eligible player.

With his future in question, the Los Angeles Dodgers had emerged as a potential trade partner for the four-time All-Star. A trade is still possible before or during the upcoming campaign, but moving Betts is not considered a priority, according to team president and CEO Sam Kennedy.

"Mookie's an MVP-caliber player and has just been an outstanding member of the Red Sox. We're excited to have him here," Kennedy said. "We'd be excited to have him here long term. We've expressed that publicly, but beyond that, I can't speculate as to what might happen except to say he's an incredible teammate, an incredible person, incredible baseball player."

Betts owns a .301/.374/.519 slash line with 139 home runs, 229 doubles, 126 stolen bases, and 470 RBIs through parts of six seasons. He's finished inside the top 10 in MVP voting in four straight years and has won four consecutive Gold Glove awards.