Report: Red Sox and X close on contract extension

Lose Remerswaal

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That's a steal. Also may explain X's anxiety at the plate this weekend.
Now tell us about the starting pitchers' anxiety!!


I'm guessing the Sox are going to resign all of the "lower hanging fruit" as they have figured out they can't sign the Big One (Mookie) and everyone else, so they will fill up the budget this way. I'd expect JBJ and Benintendi to be next, but perhaps not until after the season
 

BaseballJones

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Michael Silverman saying - "There's an 8th year in the Bogaerts deal. If Bogaerts reaches 525 plate appearances in 2025, an eighth year worth $20M kicks in for 2026. So, total deal could be 8 years, $152 million. He will have an opt-out after the 2022 season, when he'll be 29 years old."
I know we've been over this a million times by now, but doesn't the opt-out essentially make this a three-year deal?
 

Sandy Leon Trotsky

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Whoa. Good deal.
I wonder where the money will come from for Betts.
Also means JBJ is likely gone after this season

Edit- and does his 12M this season put them over 2nd luxury tax?
 

Apisith

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Now tell us about the starting pitchers' anxiety!!


I'm guessing the Sox are going to resign all of the "lower hanging fruit" as they have figured out they can't sign the Big One (Mookie) and everyone else, so they will fill up the budget this way. I'd expect JBJ and Benintendi to be next, but perhaps not until after the season
Benintendi should be much easier because he’s really far from FA and he’s already said that he’d be interested in a Bregman-type deal.
 

rymflaherty

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It’s like the team is working backwards on the list of guys I’d have prioritized to resign.
That said, you can only negotiate these types of deals with guys that are willing, and the contract itself seems tolerable...so much like the Sale extension (which I was even more indifferent too) hopefully the overwhelming positivity here, from people much more knowledgable than I, proves to be warranted.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Informal poll: does this mean that they won’t be able to keep Betts?
Not at all.

They've got two more years to negotiate with Betts before he hits free agency. A lot can happen between now and then. I honestly didn't think they'd re-sign both Sale and Bogaerts next winter, let alone get each of them extended now. I don't think anything can be ruled out at this point.
 

SoxScout

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I don't think anything keeps them from making a Harper-Trout hybrid offer to Betts. Keeping everyone else is doable, but would mean really trimming down on the edges of the roster until Pedroia, Price and Eovaldi are up in a few years, so I don't know how likely it is. They're going to need to count on young guys to supplement the roster for super cheap, luckily in the bullpen, utility player, possibly #5 starter, and at first base seem like the only spots they'd be able to do it the next few years anyways.
 

RedOctober3829

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Deal is official as Bogaerts passed his physical.


Heyman: Xander Bogaerts passed the physical and his $132M/7 year deal (plus $20M vesting option) is official. ($120M new money guaranteed). press conference scheduled for today in Oakland.
 

InstaFace

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Winning championships and having a commitment from ownership and a manager like Alex Cora makes it desirable for these guys to want to stay. Yes, they get paid fairly but everyone wants to win at the end of the day.
Baseball and pro sports recent history is littered with people who (A) recognize their careers aren't forever and want maximum security now, and plenty who (B) having won once, are looking to cash in as big as possible because they'll no longer look back on their career with regret on that count.

Craig Kimbrel, say. Or dozens of players with jewelry from the Patriots - Logan Ryan, Trey Flowers, Darrelle Revis, Brandon Browner, Shane Vereen, LeGarrette Blount, Marty Bennett, Malcolm Butler, Danny Amendola, etc.
 

Van Everyman

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It’s like the team is working backwards on the list of guys I’d have prioritized to resign.
That said, you can only negotiate these types of deals with guys that are willing, and the contract itself seems tolerable...so much like the Sale extension (which I was even more indifferent too) hopefully the overwhelming positivity here, from people much more knowledgable than I, proves to be warranted.
A few weeks ago Sean McAdam said that of the free agents the Red Sox had coming up, his prediction was that Sale, Boegarts and one other guy who wasn’t Betts (JBJ?) were the guys he thought would re-sign. He’s 2-for-2 so far.
 

Rasputin

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I'm pretty ecstatic with the way things have gone so far.

They already control Vazquez, Swihart, and Benintendi through 2022 though obviously at an unidentified cost for the latter two, so if Pedroia can be effective and if they can somehow nail down JBJ and Betts both...pipe dream, right?

Fuckit, I'ma dream of pipes.
 

BornToRun

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This is some fantastic news to wake up to. Xander was the long term shortstop we’d been looking for since Nomar was traded. Absolutely thrilled to have him locked up.
 

Mugsy's Jock

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Are we sure there’s an opt-out?

The article on MLB.com makes no mention of it, and says the deal will keep him in Boston “through at least 2025”.

https://www.mlb.com/redsox/news/xander-bogaerts-red-sox-extension
JDM info here seems like a reporting error/oversight. I remember a bunch of drama around the opt-out originally happening after Year 3 but moving up to Year 2 after the Sox examined his medicals. Damnit.

Edit: Here's confirmation from Cot's...

  • 5 years/$110M (2018-22)
    • signed by Boston as a free agent 2/26/18
    • 18:$23.75M, 19:$23.75M, 20:$23.75M, 21:$19.375M, 22:$19.375M
    • may opt out of contract after both 2019 ($2.5M buyout) and 2020 seasons (no buyout)
    • 2021 and 2022 seasons become mutual options if Martinez has a Lisfranc injury or complication to his right foot causing him to be:
      • 1) on the disabled list for 60 days or more in previous season, or
      • 2) on the disabled list for 10 days or more in the previous season and 120 days or more in the two previous seasons combined, or
      • 3) on the disabled list at the end of the previous season and found not able to play at the start of the next season
    • limited no-trade protection (may block deals to 3 clubs annually)
 

Dewey'sCannon

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i, too, am very happy with this news.

During the offseason, I priotitized extensions/resignings in the following order: Betts, Bogaerts, Sale, Bradley, Porcello. Although I thought they'd wait on Sale a bit to see how his shoulder looked this year, the front office and the medical team are obviously comfortable enough to have already made the deal. And although Ricky would like to stay (and maybe even give a "discount," at least in his eyes) I said I didn't think he'd be back unless they didn't resign Sale (or maybe not even then). I think they will look to internal options to fill out the #5 spot in the rotation next year, much as they did with the bullpen this year.

So from my perspective they are right on track so far. While I'd obviously love for them to work out an extension for Mookie, there's still time for that. And I don't see the Sale or X signings as precluding it. I also don't see JD's situation as having any negative impact on Mookie. Given the FA market, I'm not that sure that JD will opt out, even if he has another great year. If he does, resigning him shouldn't cost very mcuh more in AAV than his current deal it may be more a matter of adding years. And if he leaves, that obviously leaves more money to give to Mookie.
 

BornToRun

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I don’t see this as “Mookie isn’t happening so let’s lock up everyone else.” but as “Let’s get all of this handled so we can focus on Mookie.”
 

Adrian's Dome

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I don’t see this as “Mookie isn’t happening so let’s lock up everyone else.” but as “Let’s get all of this handled so we can focus on Mookie.”
With a side of "we have a great thing here, let's get the ball rolling on keeping it together as long as possible."
 

Why Not Grebeck?

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Mookie Betts is the face of the franchise. Ownership knows this. The Red Sox have the top payroll in the game and have shown a willingness to not be cheap.

Mookie also clearly knows his value, and he knows that he's in the running for Best Player in Baseball. No matter what FA nonsense is going on, he's going to get paid. There's no need or reason for him to take any sort of discount.

From both his perspective and the Sox perspective, waiting makes sense. Mookie believes that he's going to have another MVP year, because that's the sort of (rightfully) confident player that he is, and if the Sox don't give him a top-of-the-market deal, some other team will. The Sox are ok waiting because...well, it's not like Mookie's value is getting any higher, right? He just came off his MVP year, but his 2017 was not even close to that level. So either he has another MVP year and proves that he's neck-and-neck with Trout and worthy of a 30mm contract, or he has a down year and either his price comes down a bit or ownership realizes that he's not quite worth what he wants. Either way, time = clarity with that situation, and I have to believe it'll get done - just not for numbers that we like.
 

gedman211

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I think this puts them at or above the highest LT threshold for this year. Better go get your Tyler Thornburg jerseys
 

chrisfont9

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The uncertainty of JDM opt out adds a wrinkle in terms of future payroll. They might want to get that resolved next.
And give him a raise? I wouldn't. Goldschmidt just signed for slightly more than JD is getting (5/130), and JD's two best seasons (by far) are what Goldy does year in and year out. JD's contract is at-market. If he wants to test the waters, I'd let him. He might get more but if I were him I am not at all sure I'd want to make that bet. Should he try to squeeze out a couple million more? Is he willing to go to a middling team for a slight pay raise on his age 32-whatever years?
 

Bob Montgomerys Helmet Hat

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And give him a raise? I wouldn't. Goldschmidt just signed for slightly more than JD is getting (5/130), and JD's two best seasons (by far) are what Goldy does year in and year out. JD's contract is at-market. If he wants to test the waters, I'd let him. He might get more but if I were him I am not at all sure I'd want to make that bet. Should he try to squeeze out a couple million more? Is he willing to go to a middling team for a slight pay raise on his age 32-whatever years?
More likely he'd be looking for a couple additional years.
 

tims4wins

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So either he has another MVP year and proves that he's neck-and-neck with Trout and worthy of a 30mm contract, or he has a down year and either his price comes down a bit or ownership realizes that he's not quite worth what he wants. Either way, time = clarity with that situation, and I have to believe it'll get done - just not for numbers that we like.
The latter is the situation that would make things almost more difficult and problematic. Then what do you do a year from now? Wait to see what his 2020 season looks like?

As much as I like Mookie, his career looks fairly similar to Andrew McCutchen through his age 25 season (both with an OPS+ of 134). And Cutch did put up top-5 MVP seasons in his ages 26-28 years (156 OPS+). But his ages 29-31 seasons were merely "pretty good" with an OPS+ of 114. If Mookie were to follow a similar path, what would he be worth, and how long would you sign him?
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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I think this puts them at or above the highest LT threshold for this year. Better go get your Tyler Thornburg jerseys
It does not as it is not wiping out his current contract, it is an extension that doesn't take effect until 2020. His 2019 number remains the same.
 

Why Not Grebeck?

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The latter is the situation that would make things almost more difficult and problematic. Then what do you do a year from now? Wait to see what his 2020 season looks like?

As much as I like Mookie, his career looks fairly similar to Andrew McCutchen through his age 25 season (both with an OPS+ of 134). And Cutch did put up top-5 MVP seasons in his ages 26-28 years (156 OPS+). But his ages 29-31 seasons were merely "pretty good" with an OPS+ of 114. If Mookie were to follow a similar path, what would he be worth, and how long would you sign him?
I feel like there are three potential outcomes here:

1) Mookie has an MVP 2019 and the Sox pay him like an MVP.
2) Mookie has a mediocre 2019 and agrees to take a lesser contract than he would have after 2018.
3) Mookie has a mediocre 2019 and refuses to take any sort of discount. Demands that Boston either pay him like Mike Trout or he goes to FA after the year.

I agree that this third situation sucks, but if it happens, aren't you at least somewhat glad you didn't sign him to the Mike Trout deal already? It's not like he's taking a hometown discount this off-season. If he was going to do that, he'd be locked up for the next decade already.
 

tims4wins

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I feel like there are three potential outcomes here:

1) Mookie has an MVP 2019 and the Sox pay him like an MVP.
2) Mookie has a mediocre 2019 and agrees to take a lesser contract than he would have after 2018.
3) Mookie has a mediocre 2019 and refuses to take any sort of discount. Demands that Boston either pay him like Mike Trout or he goes to FA after the year.

I agree that this third situation sucks, but if it happens, aren't you at least somewhat glad you didn't sign him to the Mike Trout deal already? It's not like he's taking a hometown discount this off-season. If he was going to do that, he'd be locked up for the next decade already.
I don't disagree at all. I felt the same way about Sale in a way - I'd have let him pitch in 2019 on his current contract, then either he would have earned a big deal or you let him walk if you don't like how his 2019 goes, or sign him to a lesser deal. Now it feels like it could already be a potential albatross and we are a single start into the extension.
 

Bob Montgomerys Helmet Hat

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I feel like there are three potential outcomes here:

1) Mookie has an MVP 2019 and the Sox pay him like an MVP.
2) Mookie has a mediocre 2019 and agrees to take a lesser contract than he would have after 2018.
3) Mookie has a mediocre 2019 and refuses to take any sort of discount. Demands that Boston either pay him like Mike Trout or he goes to FA after the year.

I agree that this third situation sucks, but if it happens, aren't you at least somewhat glad you didn't sign him to the Mike Trout deal already? It's not like he's taking a hometown discount this off-season. If he was going to do that, he'd be locked up for the next decade already.
There is no chance of #2 happening. Mookie isn't going to sell low on himself when he still has a year to go before free agency. There is literally nothing in the way he's approached his contract that should lead us to believe he would.
 

snowmanny

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I feel like there are three potential outcomes here:

1) Mookie has an MVP 2019 and the Sox pay him like an MVP.
2) Mookie has a mediocre 2019 and agrees to take a lesser contract than he would have after 2018.
3) Mookie has a mediocre 2019 and refuses to take any sort of discount. Demands that Boston either pay him like Mike Trout or he goes to FA after the year.

I agree that this third situation sucks, but if it happens, aren't you at least somewhat glad you didn't sign him to the Mike Trout deal already? It's not like he's taking a hometown discount this off-season. If he was going to do that, he'd be locked up for the next decade already.
If #3 happens I would be happy if they signed him to the Mike Trout deal. But he's not going to be mediocre. By mediocre you mean his disappointing 2017 6.4 WAR, sixth in MVP voting, gold glove, right? Or do you mean he's hurt and worse than that?
 

brandonchristensen

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I don't disagree at all. I felt the same way about Sale in a way - I'd have let him pitch in 2019 on his current contract, then either he would have earned a big deal or you let him walk if you don't like how his 2019 goes, or sign him to a lesser deal. Now it feels like it could already be a potential albatross and we are a single start into the extension.
This is kinda what happened with Beckett.

He had an odd-year Beckett year and we signed him to an extension and then he came back and was even-year Beckett and the deal worked out great (until the end).
 

canderson

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There is no chance of #2 happening. Mookie isn't going to sell low on himself when he still has a year to go before free agency. There is literally nothing in the way he's approached his contract that should lead us to believe he would.
There is also nothing to make me think he doesn’t declare free agency. He has been vocal (rightly) about players doing anything they can to maximize their contracts. Hell he almost went back to the draft board unsigned because Boston wouldn’t originally give him $750,000.
 

geoduck no quahog

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Extending Betts is not necessarily the smart move if it handcuffs the team from filling in all the positions around him. He's still only one player on a team of 25/26. Sometimes the supporting cast is collectively more important than the star - see Mike Trout.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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I feel like there are three potential outcomes here:

1) Mookie has an MVP 2019 and the Sox pay him like an MVP.
2) Mookie has a mediocre 2019 and agrees to take a lesser contract than he would have after 2018.
3) Mookie has a mediocre 2019 and refuses to take any sort of discount. Demands that Boston either pay him like Mike Trout or he goes to FA after the year.

I agree that this third situation sucks, but if it happens, aren't you at least somewhat glad you didn't sign him to the Mike Trout deal already? It's not like he's taking a hometown discount this off-season. If he was going to do that, he'd be locked up for the next decade already.
Why is 2019 important but not 2020? Seems like some here are extension-obsessed and forget that it is possible to let the player get to free agency and still re-sign him. How about this scenario...come November 2020, both Mookie and the team want to sign but can't agree on fair market value so he goes on the market, finds out what other teams are willing to pay, and comes back to the Sox to get it...and they happily pay.
 

Al Zarilla

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Why is 2019 important but not 2020? Seems like some here are extension-obsessed and forget that it is possible to let the player get to free agency and still re-sign him. How about this scenario...come November 2020, both Mookie and the team want to sign but can't agree on fair market value so he goes on the market, finds out what other teams are willing to pay, and comes back to the Sox to get it...and they happily pay.
The Patriot Way.
 

Plympton91

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If #3 happens I would be happy if they signed him to the Mike Trout deal. But he's not going to be mediocre. By mediocre you mean his disappointing 2017 6.4 WAR, sixth in MVP voting, gold glove, right? Or do you mean he's hurt and worse than that?
With two years to go until free agency, he should be putting a higher probability than he thinks on, “ I could suffer a career altering injury before I sign my big deal.” Of course, making $20 million this year reduces the urgency of that outcome, it it’s a real risk. I suspect that the Red Sox are closer to doing an actuarially fair treatment of that possibility in negotiations than Mookie is.
 

Pozo the Clown

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Turning the focus back to X, this extension is a very pleasant surprise. As a Boras client, I feared that X would test the market and that his decision would drag on and on and on (a la Harper/Machado).

Per the article linked below:

"Once Sale signed, Dombrowski didn’t think the club would be able to extend itself enough to get Bogaerts signed before free agency started in November.

As it turns out, Bogaerts was motivated enough to stay with the Red Sox that a deal was able to be consummated.

“I was not by any means thinking it was going to happen,” Dombrowski said. “Today, when I was recollecting, I was riding with [assistant general manager] Eddie [Romero] to the ballpark, I said, ‘When we had the Chris Sale press conference, I did not think we were going to get this deal done.’ We wanted him the whole time. But I would say very strongly it was Bogey’s desire to be here.”

Driving force for Bogaerts' deal was the Sox SS

Kudos to X for making this happen!