The Boston Red Sox might have still had Xander Bogaerts on their team if they had approached contract negotiations a little differently.
Appearing this week on the “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast, the new San Diego Padres shortstop Bogaerts revealed that a lousy contract offer from the Red Sox set the stage for him leaving them in free agency this offseason.
“I remember in spring training, [agent] Scott [Boras] approached me about an extension offer and I was like ‘Alright, let’s see what’s going on,'” said Bogaerts. “When he came back with the offer it was like, ‘Oh s–t, this is pretty rough.’ It was a little disappointing, to be honest.
“That kind of set the stage [for me leaving],” the four-time All-Star went on. “I was looking forward to seeing what they would offer, and once that offer came out, it was [very] surprising. They probably had another vision for the team. Maybe they didn’t expect for me to get what I got in the end. Maybe they valued me a little different. Free agency is a whole different ballgame.”
Bogaerts, who had been with the Red Sox for his entire ten-season career to that point, did also say that Boston made him an improved contract offer in the winter. However, Bogaerts says it was only a “little” improvement over the previous one. Bogaerts would wind up signing with the Padres on an 11-year deal worth massive money.
A couple of months ago, we heard a report that the Red Sox had indeed given Bogaerts a disrespectful offer. Now Bogaerts himself appears to be confirming just as much.
The Red Sox haven’t been total tightwads this offseason, signing All-Star third baseman Rafael Devers to a big $331 million extension. But they are not spending nearly as much as a big-market team that wants to contend should be, and even their fans are expressing serious displeasure.
H/T theScore
