MLB insider has good news for Red Sox fans on Xander Bogaerts

Boston Red Sox fans have been beyond frustrated waiting to hear Xander Bogaerts’ fate in Boston, but Jon Heyman is hopeful of an extension.

Red Sox fans have been on a pure emotional rollercoaster this season with uncertainty around whether or not star Xander Bogaerts will return, and things haven’t seemed promising ever since Trevor Story was signed back in March.

However, MLB insider Jon Heyman is giving a small sliver of hope as he predicts Bogaerts will reach a contract agreement with the Red Sox this offseason.

Heyman acknowledged the high demand for the star as he’s one of four top shortstops on the market this offseason, alongside Trea Turner, Carlos Correa and Dansby Swanson. However, he ultimately sees Boston as the top contender because of the fact that they need him.

After quite a disappointing regular season, the Red Sox do certainly need Bogaerts. He was one of the only good things about the 2022 Red Sox, and he’s also their own homegrown talent.

Red Sox need Xander Bogaerts to maximize success

Boston would truly be at a major loss without Bogaerts. There were too many aspects of the team that needed development, and Bogaerts was one of the few veterans that can lead the new players.

Aside from being a veteran, he had a highly successful season as the only player in Boston nominated for a Gold Glove and one of two nominated for a Silver Slugger, alongside Rafael Devers.

Bogaerts won the Silver Slugger and remained one of the best hitting shortstops in the league. He led all regular-starter shortstops in the league in batting average (.307) and on-base percentage (.377). He also led the Red Sox in several hitting stats, including hits (171), batting average and OBP. He tied with Devers for most runs (84), and fell second to Devers in most other areas.

The Red Sox have several other areas to improve, such as their bullpen, their rotation and their overall defense.

Bogaerts is also likely to be less expensive than Correa or Turner. Although Bogaerts isn’t as good defensively as the two, he’s still not a bad player, as proven by his Gold Glove nomination. If they’re going to dump money into a star, it should be Bogaerts because he’s already proven to be a successful part of Boston.

Luckily, there is hope that the shortstop will stick around.