Teams as diverse as the Padres, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Twins, Orioles, Phillies, and Cubs have all been associated Xander Bogaerts so far this winter, and the list of applicants could stretch even further beyond these teams. The Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham reports that between eight and 11 teams have expressed interest in Bogaerts, and yet the Red Sox “have not been positioned in that group since Sunday afternoon.” According to two sources, Bogaerts’ former team have yet to make a ‘competitive offer’ for a new deal.
This relative lack of interest from Boston is perhaps a little surprising given how Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom has said on numerous occasions that keeping Bogaerts is one of the team’s top priorities. However, as Abraham notes, there have been numerous signs that the Red Sox have been fully committed to retaining the All-Star, from their Lowball extension offer last spring to the team’s signing Trevor story last off-season as an apparent backup plan for the shortstop if Bogaerts departed.
While a front office can obviously work on multiple things at once, it’s perhaps also telling that the Sox have largely focused on other roster areas so far during the offseason. The Red Sox pushed hard to sign Jose Abreu before Abreu landed in Houston and are among the many teams interested Mitch Haniger. Boston is also exploring a wide range of rotation and bullpen pitching options, and the Sox have already made two notable additions to Reliever Chris Martin and Joely Rodriguez. That’s not to say the Red Sox couldn’t make an offer to Bogaerts at any point, but it would apparently have to be a very substantial offer to outperform the several other teams that have shown much more direct interest.
There wasn’t much evidence that the Sox might switch to any of the other star free-agent shortstops (Trea Turner, Carlo Correaor Dansby Swanson) instead of Bogaerts, and the team could just do a combination of story, Enrique Hernandez, Christian Arroyo, Jeter Downsand the newly acquired ones Hoy Park to handle the two middle infield positions. long term, Marcel Mayer is Boston’s shortstop of the future and prospect Ceddanne Rafaela could also be a factor in shortstop or other positions after a 2022 breakout season at high-a and double-a-ball.
Bogaerts turned down Boston’s qualifying offer, and since the Red Sox surpassed the luxury tax in 2022, their compensatory election (if Bogaerts signed elsewhere) would not come until after the fourth round of the 2023 draft. It wouldn’t be much of a consolation prize for one of the best players in recent franchise history, especially since crossing the tax threshold didn’t even result in a winning record for the Red Sox in 2022.