Xander Bogaerts has ‘severed ties’ with Boston Red Sox
By Rylie Smith
The Boston Red Sox let star shortstop Xander Bogaerts reach free agency, and now he’s reportedly on his way out.
The Red Sox failed to lock down their star shortstop Xander Bogaerts earlier in the season, and his time in Boston could be over. The latest rumor surfacing is that Bogaerts has ‘severed ties’ with the Red Sox and that he won’t be going back, per Peter Gammons.
As Ever,fact, but but while one doubts Bogaerts would switch positions, in the past three days front office folks from 3 teams claim they’ve been told he has severed Boston ties and won’t be going back. Whether that’s negotiating leverage talk or reality, there’s no confirmation. https://t.co/rKJCF5JxAy
— Peter Gammons (@pgammo) November 30, 2022
There’s no official confirmation of this, but it’s realistic given the bad blood between the two sides. Bogaerts has been frustrated with the club for awhile as they offered him much less than he’ll likely make on the market. When they signed Trevor Story, they toyed around with the idea of putting Bogaerts at second base, which he was not willing to do.
Things haven’t changed much in that regard as Scott Boras reportedly shared that Bogaerts will only play shortstop no matter where he goes.
Updated with Boras dismissing possibility of Bogaerts changing positions: “Xander is playing shortstop.” https://t.co/fTCLrZJbY8
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 30, 2022
Unfortunately, after an extremely disappointing season, the Red Sox are most likely losing one of the only assets which provided hope for the future.
Red Sox made a big mistake in letting Xander Bogaerts walk
Bogaerts is one of four star shortstops on the market. He was one of the best shortstops in the league this season, and so many other teams will likely appreciate him. However, Boston shouldn’t have pushed him to the point of walking in the first place.
He wouldn’t be easy to replace considering his achievements this season. He was a finalist for a Gold Glove award, the only finalist from the Red Sox. He also earned a Silver Slugger and led the team in many hitting stats, while leading the entire league among shortstops in batting average (.307) and on-base percentage (.377).
They could replace him with Dansby Swanson, Carlos Correa or Trea Turner, the other star shortstops on the market. However, that’s highly unlikely as they signed Story with intention of putting him at shortstop. Story is a good player, but he’s not Bogaerts.
The Red Sox also don’t have enough security on the team to be able to afford to lose their good players. Their bullpen needs a lot of work, they had many defensive issues and their problems ultimately led to them finishing last in the AL East, missing the playoffs entirely.
To make things even more painful, Bogaerts is a home-grown talent. He played in the Red Sox minor league teams in the early 2010s before making his MLB debut in 2013 and quickly proving to be an asset.
With Boston, he’s won two World Series. He’s earned five Silver Sluggers. He’s earned two Red Sox MVPs. Several players have vouched for him to stay in Boston, including Story, Rafael Devers and quite possibly the most notable player in Boston’s history, David Ortiz.
It’s unfortunate that Bogaerts will likely be producing big achievements with another franchise next season, but Boston did it to themselves.
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