6:01pm: Sean McAdam of the Boston Sports Journal writes that individuals of Boston’s possession staff have met with Bogaerts over the last week and expressed equivalent sentiments privately to Bloom’s public feedback concerning the membership viewing Bogaerts as its most sensible precedence. Those casual talks didn’t contain Bogaerts’ reps on the Boras Corporation, and McAdam writes that no particular contractual numbers had been exchanged.
1:45pm: Red Sox leader baseball officer Chaim Bloom stated at these days’s end-of-season presser {that a} new contract for Bogaerts is the crew’s most sensible precedence, and the method of making an attempt to increase him will start straight away (hyperlink by means of Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com). Boston hopes to safe a brand new care for Bogaerts ahead of he may even officially workout his opt-out provision, 5 days after the World Series ends.
12:45pm: Xander Bogaerts, who can decide out of the 3 years and $60MM final on his contract after the postseason concludes, stated following the overall recreation of the season that he hasn’t had any fresh talks with the Red Sox a few new contract (hyperlink by means of Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald). He’d indicated again in May that he was once open to talks right through the season. Bogaerts is making plans to go house to Aruba in the following few days and revel in a psychological reset after an extended season. “I need it more than a lot of years I’ve been here,” Bogaerts stated of his upcoming time at house.
The 2022 season was once a hard one for the Red Sox, who went from lacking the 2021 World Series by means of one recreation to a last-place end within the American League East. Boston handled myriad accidents, as key names like Chris Sale, Trevor Story, Nathan Eovaldi, Michael Wacha and Enrique Hernandez all spent abundant time at the shelf. That stated, there have been way over accidents at play. The Sox had been hammered by means of bullpen problems all season, struggled to search out high quality rotation paintings past the quartet of Eovaldi, Wacha, Nick Pivetta and Rich Hill, and noticed a number of hitters (e.g. Hernandez, Story, Bobby Dalbec, Alex Verdugo and J.D. Martinez) fall shy in their earlier ranges of contribution.
To a small extent, Bogaerts was once a part of that offensive downturn. Although he was once superb at the entire, hitting .307/.377/.456 in 631 plate appearances, he hit “only” 15 house runs this season — his lightest appearing within the energy division since 2017 (each in relation to house run overall and ISO). Bogaerts noticed declines in his go out pace, barrel price and hard-hit price, additional supporting the dip in extra-base pop. That stated, Bogaerts additionally picked up the tempo within the season’s ultimate couple months, and he and Rafael Devers had been nonetheless the crew’s two best possible gamers by means of a large margin.
Bogaerts’ postgame feedback the day past contained two repeated topics: he hopes to stay with the Red Sox — the one group he’s ever recognized — however could also be a unique participant and particular person than he was once when he signed his unique contract extension. Bogaerts stated at a couple of issues that he has grown and matured in fresh seasons, including that he’s “in a different mentality now than I was a couple years ago.”
Bogaerts is a veritable lock to decide out and take a look at unfastened company. Nothing he stated the day past advised the rest on the contrary, and whilst the dip in energy is also one thing of a purple flag for groups, it’s handiest truthful to indicate that stated downturn was once accompanied by means of a big uptick in his defensive grades. Bogaerts posted damaging marks in Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast’s Outs Above Average in each and every of the 4 seasons heading into 2022 however was once robust around the board at shortstop in 2022 by means of measure of DRS (4), OAA (5) and Ultimate Zone Rating (5.4).
That may paintings to his prefer in fighting the narrative that he’ll wish to transfer to both 3rd base or 2d base — in all probability quicker than later. Some suitors would possibly nonetheless want him at every other place, and a willingness to play in other places can unquestionably bolster one’s marketplace — simply ask Story or Marcus Semien — however the 2022 marketing campaign is some extent in his prefer if Bogaerts is intent on final at shortstop for the foreseeable long run.
Regardless of his defensive house, Bogaerts’ bat will have to elevate him to a longer-term, more-lucrative deal than the club-friendly extension he at the start signed with the Sox a couple of years again. He’s been a minimum of 29% higher than reasonable on the plate in each and every of the previous 5 seasons, by means of measure of wRC+, posting a blended .300/.373/.507 slash with 105 lengthy balls in that point. He’s additionally been relatively sturdy, incurring only one harm (a small crack in his ankle in 2018) and enjoying in 91% of the Red Sox’ overall video games in that half-decade span.
The Red Sox’ public place at the topic has time and again been that the crew hopes to signal Bogaerts, even though the latest extension be offering from the crew casts doubt at the plausibility of that result. Boston reportedly presented Bogaerts one further yr at a value of $30MM again in Spring Training. That’d have introduced Bogaerts to 4 years and $90MM in overall dedication, and it stands to explanation why that he may greater than double that general ensure at the open marketplace this iciness as he heads into his age-30 season.
Boston has slightly lower than $102MM in assured contracts already on subsequent yr’s books, even though Bogaerts accounts for $20MM of that sum. By 2024, they’ll be right down to about $57MM (sans Bogaerts), and by means of 2025, Story’s contract is the final notable ensure final at the books. The crew is in all probability hopefully earmarking some payroll area for a Devers extension, however it’s masses possible that every one 3 of Story, Bogaerts and Devers may are compatible onto the payroll — specifically for a big-market membership with little in the way in which of alternative main promises for different gamers past the 2024 season.
If and when Bogaerts opts out, he’ll be eligible to obtain a qualifying be offering. He’ll indubitably obtain and reject that, positioning the Red Sox to obtain some reimbursement if he departs as a unfastened agent. However, for the reason that Red Sox completed the 2022 season north of the $230MM luxurious tax line (by means of a reported margin of about $4.5MM), they’d stand to obtain a pick out between the fourth and 5th rounds of subsequent summer time’s draft — versus the pick out between Competitive Balance Round B and Round 3 that they’d have differently won.