The Red Sox supposedly are doing their best to keep Xander Bogaerts in Boston. But they've also started preparing their contingency plans.
The Red Sox have begun contacting other teams "regarding the availability of their second basemen" as a potential "Plan B in the likely event that Bogaerts leaves Boston," MLB.com's Mark Feinsand reports.
Trevor Story is the team's current second baseman but played shortstop for the first six years of his career with the Colorado Rockies, so he would replace Bogaerts at shortstop under this "Plan B" scenario. After signing Story to a six-year, $140 million contract last offseason, it makes sense why the Red Sox would pursue a lower-priced second baseman rather than keep Story at second and target an expensive shortstop.
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"It doesn’t seem like they’re going to spend big on a shortstop," a source told Feinsand about the Red Sox. "They knew this was a possibility when they signed Story last year."
While sliding Story to shortstop and acquiring a mid-level second baseman would be the financially prudent move, losing Bogaerts would be a significant blow for Boston. The Red Sox' longest-tenured player and locker room leader ranked third in the American League with a .307 batting average in 2022 and played excellent defense, reinforcing his status as one of the game's best shortstops.
Bogaerts' talent should get him paid, however -- one projection values his next deal at eight years, $225 million -- and the Red Sox may not want to make that financial commitment to a 30-year-old, even if it's Bogaerts.
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Bogaerts is officially a free agent after opting out of the final year of his contract, and the fact that Chaim Bloom and Co. are exploring the second baseman market suggests they're far from confident that they'll re-sign him.