OAKLAND — Xander Bogaerts will remain with the organization where he came of age.
The Red Sox are the only home he’s ever known, and Bogaerts could stay with them all the way through the 2026 season.
Boston officially announced a six-year contract extension for Bogaerts prior to Monday’s series opener with the Athletics. There is a vesting option for a seventh year should Bogaerts reach 525 plate appearances in 2025 and pass his year-end physical. He will [...]
OAKLAND — Xander Bogaerts will remain with the organization where he came of age.
The Red Sox are the only home he’s ever known, and Bogaerts could stay with them all the way through the 2026 season.
Boston officially announced a six-year contract extension for Bogaerts prior to Monday’s series opener with the Athletics. There is a vesting option for a seventh year should Bogaerts reach 525 plate appearances in 2025 and pass his year-end physical. He will command a reported $20 million annually, a raise from the $12 million Bogaerts will take home in his final season of arbitration eligibility this year.
“What’s not to love here?” Bogaerts said. “I grew up here. Ownership and the front office approached me. I think I valued what we have in here a lot.”
Bogaerts was an international signing by the Red Sox out of Aruba as a 16-year-old in 2009. He’ll be 33 by the end of the six-year term, spending more than half his life in a place where he’s already won a pair of World Series titles. Bogaerts credited some members of Red Sox management beyond the usual brass – Raquel Ferreira, senior vice president of operations in both the major and minor leagues, drew special praise.
“He’s very close to this group,” said Scott Boras, the shortstop’s agent. “He’s a family guy. He really welcomes and enjoys the opportunity to play with a group of people he was raised with. That’s who Xander Bogaerts is.”
Bogaerts counted Jackie Bradley Jr., Christian Vazquez, Brandon Workman and Matt Barnes among his teammates at Class A Salem in 2012 and Triple-A Pawtucket in 2013. All five players are on the current Boston roster and were on hand during the formal press conference at Oakland Coliseum. Assorted other Red Sox players and staff members were in attendance, and Boras cheekily asked manager Alex Cora to stop a steady stream of text messages imploring the two sides to reach a deal.
“We like the shortstop, but we like the person better,” said Cora, who also suggested Boras was being facetious. “They do love him. It’s fun to be around him. He’s a kid who’s been very successful. In that city that might be dangerous, but not with him.”
Bogaerts set a host of new career highs in 2018, leading all shortstops in baseball with 45 doubles and adding 23 home runs, 103 runs batted in and an .883 OPS. His contract value is significantly below the 10-year, $300-million mega-deal signed by Manny Machado with the Padres during the offseason – it would be a fair conclusion to draw that Bogaerts gave Boston a bit of a discount.
“We had some conversations that I thought were optimistic during spring training and some conversations I didn’t think were optimistic at the time,” president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said. “At the very end I will say (Bogaerts) was very influential in this. He really made an emphasis on how much he wanted to be a Red Sox.”
Dombrowski said discussions with Bogaerts ran throughout the winter and gained an extra sense of urgency leading into Opening Day. Both the club and the player were lukewarm on the idea of carrying negotiations into the season, and Bogaerts pushed to finish the deal prior to first pitch Thursday in Seattle. The final hurdle was an opt-out clause for Bogaerts following the 2022 season, allowing him to potentially enter free agency as a 30-year-old.
“There was certainty for him that he’d be able to remain here if he so chooses,” Boras said. “He would also be able to get a fresh look at where the team would be a few years down the road as well. Once we were able to accomplish that it made it a little easier.”
Bogaerts has started each of the club’s last 29 postseason games, including 21 straight at shortstop. His six straight Opening Day starts at the position matched Rick Burleson’s run from 1975-80. Bogaerts ranks seventh all-time with 695 career Red Sox starts at short, and he should comfortably pass all-time leader Everett Scott (1,081 starts, 1914-21) by the end of the new deal.
“This was just what was best for me and my family,” Bogaerts said. “All that I’ve accomplished here with the Red Sox – it’s a very special place to play.”
bkoch@providencejournal.com
On Twitter: @BillKoch25