3 Xander Bogaerts replacements for Red Sox not named Trevor Story
By Tim Boyle
The Boston Red Sox need to find a replacement for Xander Bogaerts and could look for options other than Trevor Story.
There is never any joy in Mudville. After the MLB Winter Meetings, there isn’t much in Beantown either. Longtime Boston Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts will suit up for the San Diego Padres next year. And the season after that. And so on.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox are left with a major hole in the lineup at shortstop. They can move Trevor Story over to shortstop. Replacing him at second base is tough enough if they plan to compete next season.
What can the Red Sox do to replace Bogaerts? Aside from shifting Story, these three names remain possibilities.
1) Red Sox replacement for Xander Bogaerts candidate: Dansby Swanson
Carlos Correa is not coming to the Red Sox. If they were interested in spending that kind of money, they would have kept Bogey. Free agent shortstop Dansby Swanson, on the other hand, might be within their budget. It would be the biggest move they could conceivably make at the position through free agency. What are the odds they go here?
Swanson would have some big cleats to fill. He would be an obvious downgrade for the Red Sox. As superb as he was with the Atlanta Braves last year, he isn’t Bogaerts nor should anyone expect him to put up the same type of numbers.
Letting Bogaerts leave and moving to Swanson seems like a cheap move to make. The only thing the Red Sox could possibly do to make it up to the fans would be to overhaul the roster in spectacular ways around Swanson.
It also wouldn’t hurt for them to extend Rafael Devers. They can mask allowing Bogaerts to leave by hinting that Devers was their preferred choice. In which case, maybe it’s a passable excuse.
If not Swanson or any other less free agent, the Red Sox can look from within.