Xander Bogaerts has opted out of his contract
- Thread starter RedOctober3829
- Start date
Not even remotely surprising, but still sad. Hope he's back, hope the deal is reasonable for both sides. We shall see.
I have zero faith in his return. In the long run it's probably the best baseball decision. In the short term, it's gonna hurt, especially if he ends up in the Bronx as I fear he will.
Where would he play in NY? Seems they have more infielders than they need already, and their top prospect is an SS whose being heralded as the second coming.
And the offseason has officially begun in the eyes of Red Sox Nation. Hope to see him back of course!
I'll wait and see if Chaim makes an offer soon before commenting, but he absolutely should (and did, duh!) opt out of his current contract. Good for him, but I would like him back- obviously depending on the terms.
Will the other SS free agents have to wait for Trea Turner to be the first domino to fall before they receive real offers?
Xander has been a quality player on the field and quality person off the field. To me, he can make any decision about his future (with one exception) and I'll only wish him the best. I hope he stays, but suspect he won't get an offer equitable to what he'll be offered elsewhere
FWIW Fangraphs ranks him 3rd out of the Big 4 shortstops. Their projections:
Turner: 9x32
Correa: 10x30
Xander: 7x31
Swanson 6x24
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2023-top-50-free-agents/
I have no idea which of those deals I like the best. I'm sure I could talk myself into any of them.
Turner: 9x32
Correa: 10x30
Xander: 7x31
Swanson 6x24
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2023-top-50-free-agents/
I have no idea which of those deals I like the best. I'm sure I could talk myself into any of them.
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I would really like him to stay, even if it takes 8/224 or whatever. But I'm afraid he's going to leave - and if he does, I think it might mean Raffy is next to go (at the least, I think it makes it harder to extend him).
Sometimes its really hard to just root for the laundry, especially when it's players you really like and it's just about money (which in this case, the team can afford). I wish Sam Kennedy would put John Henry's money where his mouth is.
Sometimes its really hard to just root for the laundry, especially when it's players you really like and it's just about money (which in this case, the team can afford). I wish Sam Kennedy would put John Henry's money where his mouth is.
If there is one place he almost certainly won’t end up, it’s the Bronx.
Xander is one of my favorite players of all time. I want him back, almost irrationally so.
Loved him for a long time, but I don't want to load a new albatross on the team.
5 or less years is fine, if not, I'm fine waiting for Meyer.
5 or less years is fine, if not, I'm fine waiting for Meyer.
If it is up to Bloom it is hard to see the Sox not being significantly outbid on this one. If Henry is determined to keep one of Xander and Devers and the Devers negotiations aren't promising, then who knows. It is Boras and a funky SS market, especially with Correa out there, so I could see Bogaerts sitting in FA for quite awhile unless the Sox come in super strong early.
The fact that it's gotten to this point isn't great. The Red Sox had exclusive negotiating rights up until today and nothing was agreed to. Maybe they're letting him go out and get an offer that they'll match, but that's kind of risky.
https://nypost.com/2022/11/06/yankees-enter-offseason-with-shortstop-question/
I read Cashman and Boone's remarks to say that IKF will not be the solution going forward, and their top prospect (Volpe is who I think you are referring to) won't be ready for 2023. It's not a lot different than our scenario with Mayer, but the distinctions I see are these: Cashman is walking on the thinnest of ice. His focus has to be going all in for 2023 or he may be out of a job. They have never hesitated to take a player knowing it could weaken the Red Sox while strengthening themselves. Money and term should not be an impediment given how desperate they are. And, X fits very well for them. It scares me and I can see it happening.
He wanted ice cream cake, but they would only offer regular chocolate, with sprinkles, so negotiations melted away.
Huh? Basically no chance of him signing in NY, he will probably get $30M plus and they have more pressing needs.
Cashman is out of a job right now, his contract expired 10/30, so he will presumably sign a multiyear deal soon.
Also BOS is probably sixth or seventh right now in terms of teams NY feels most directly threatened by (HOU, the other three division teams, NYM, maybe CLE), so I wouldn’t worry about the Johnny Damon angle.
And also what the market bears. Who's out there that would make second baseman X and Story at SS a better combo than shortstop Y and Story at 2B? I honestly don't know, but I have to think it's most likely Story stays at 2B based on what we know now.
I don't think Cashman is on the thinnest of ice. But even if they do decide to go after a SS because they don't want to give it to one of the kids, which I doubt, I think it will be one who is better defensively than Bogaerts.
I see Bloom letting Xander walk, leaving Story at 2B, and then signing someone like Jose Iglesias to be a two year stopgap until someone from the farm like Mayer is ready.
The Orioles are freaking loaded with young talent and about to start spending money, they’re at the 2015 part of their HOU-style rebuild.
If I'm the Yankees and we are talking '23 and '24, then yes, I am far more worried about them than the Red Sox.
This was my thought as well. Add in the rumors of the initial paltry extension offer, and I fear this means they’re letting him walk. I think X also had a couple more days to consider opting out (or not opting in), which suggests that there are no substantial or close current negotiations.
I might be wrong, but they still do have exclusive rights, don't they? They are going to extend a QO (which he will decline) and he isn't officially available until free agency day, right?
Not relevant to the actual Xander topic, but I'm curious as to what would have happened if the Yankees made it to the World Series
Would he have been given a new contract to get through the postseason (like a 10 day extension), or is the GM basically useless at that point, as they can't do anything impactful at that point?
He is still doing the job currently while they figure out his new deal, they did the same thing the last time his contract expired (after 2019?).
Elias wasn’t hired until Nov 2018, before then they were terrible but not actively tanking.
As of when he officially opted out, Bogaerts is free to negotiate with any team in the league. He just can't officially sign with anyone until Friday.
You have never heard of Scott Boras?
He almost always takes his clients to free agency
Not looking forward to the typical Boras negotiation of waiting until deep into the offseason, especially with presumably other SS above Xander having to be signed first. Longing for a Dombrowski-style strategy of, "Here's our guy, let's go get him now," instead of the Negotiating 101 dance where you could save a few million but also increase the risk that at the end of the day you get nothing.
I imagine that the Sox will say, "look here Xander. This is our offer. We can't wait around for you to make a decision. We'd love you back here but we can't wait and end up holding a turd after the music stops. You probably don't want to end up in a one year-make good-type of deal, right? So here's our offer and we're going to start talking with Carlos and Trea, etc....".
Tough variable choices here
. "Why move X to second base?" I think your point is spot on. Especially with the new shift rules, having a very athletic 2B will be a huge advantage. There isn't a likely combination that won't weaken both SS and 2B by moving Story to SS and replacing him with another 2B.
I can't imagine wanting a player back more than I want Xander back but if he's really going to cost 31 until he's 38 wouldn't Correa at 30 until he's 38 be a better signing?
No value in ice cream cakes.
You make a Betty Crocker chocolate, vanilla, and lemon cake and you covered your bases with the same resources, leaving plenty of flexibility to ice the cake as well.