3 teams that could steal Xander Bogaerts from the Red Sox

1. Atlanta Braves

Alex Anthopoulos didn’t work his way up from an intern with the Montreal Expos to general manager of the World Series champions by being afraid to make the bold move. When he was with the Blue Jays, he traded for David Price and Troy Tulowitzki at the deadline. In 2021, after Ronald Acuna Jr. went down with a torn ACL, Anthopoulos completely remade the Braves outfield, including trading for NLCS MVP Eddie Rosario and World Series MVP Jorge Soler.

This offseason, Anthopoulos let franchise icon Freddie Freeman leave only to make a deal with the Athletics for Matt Olson. He then signed Olson to an eight-year, $168 million deal. He’s willing to make the big move, constantly working to make his team better. Signing Bogaerts would be just his latest prize.

The Braves will be in the market for a shortstop after this season, with Dansby Swanson approaching free agency. Bogaerts would form a formidable double-play tandem with Ozzie Albies. Few other teams have a middle of the infield that is capable of hitting 30 home runs and driving in 100 RBI, as both Bogaerts and Albies have done in their careers.

Other than the shortened 2020 season, both Bogaerts and Albies have averaged 26 home runs over their last three full seasons. Albies averages 88 RBI, Bogaerts an even 100. The Blue Jays had a second baseman and shortstop put up those types of numbers last season with Marcus Semien and Bo Bichette; before that, it hadn’t been done since Bobby Doerr and Vern Stephens of the Red Sox in both 1948 and 1950.

Adding Bogaerts wouldn’t make Braves fans forget about the loss of Freeman. But it would be right out of the Anthopoulos playbook, and that has proven to work pretty well.