The Boston Red Sox were under pressure to extend Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers, and are now in the Silver Slugger final.
The Boston Red Sox have several reasons to extend Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers. Both players helped the team win at least one world championship, and during a season of disappointment, both were reliable players who helped bring whatever success the Bostonians had together in 2022.
They both had very good seasons at bat, and because of that, they were named Silver Slugger finalists. They’re the only Boston players on the finalists’ list, so that alone should be enough to encourage conversations about extensions.
There have reportedly been talks about extending Devers.
However, there has been no mention of Bogart’s fate with the Red Sox yet. His extension should have happened before now, and he continues to make his case for why he is needed on the team. The Red Sox finished last in the AL East as the only team under 0.500, and without the Bogaerts and Devers, they would likely have done much worse.
That’s not the only reason to pay him, though. It is one of many growing lists.
There were several reasons why Xander Bogaerts extended before he was in the Silver Slugger final
Bogarts has been one of the best short stops in the league this season. Of all the short stops that started consistently during the regular season, he had the best hit average (.307) and base percentage (.377). He had the fifth best slowdown (.456) and fourth best war (6.1).
Already having four Silver Sluggers, he is the fifth short-lived player in MLB history to win four, joining Barry Larkin and Cal Ripkin Jr. and Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter.
He has also been with the Red Sox since 2013 and has managed to maintain a career average of .292/.356/.458 for an OPS of .814. Although player talent naturally declines over a long period of time, this is not the case with Bogaerts. He led the team in hitting (171), walk (57), hitting average, and OBP. He tied the most rounds with Devers (84) and finished second to Devers in slowdown and OPS percentage.
Apparently, that wasn’t a strong enough reason to extend it, so the league gave the Red Sox more. He went on to become Boston Offensive Player of the Year in 2022 and became an AL Gold Glove winner. It’s the full package and shows no sign of slowing down.
He was so influential that David Ortiz, who remains essentially the face of the franchise after rebuilding the team in the early 2000s, spoke of the need for Bogarts and Devers on the team.
Ortiz said Ian Brown of MLB.com Back in July:
“I’ve played with a lot of superstars and they were great elsewhere and when they got to Boston they struggled because they couldn’t stand what’s going on there. These two guys, they grew up there. You know what you expect from them. You know what they’re going to give you. That’s why in some Sometimes I don’t understand why organizations sometimes shy away from that. They’d rather explore other options. I’ll go with what I know. I’ll keep it simple.”
At the time of roster rebuilding, the key question remains: Why doesn’t Boston exercise the full power of extending the one who keeps the team so great together?
The answer to this question remains unclear, but it is a mistake the Red Sox constantly make.
The Red Sox have an unfortunate history of trading away from their homegrown talent
The Red Sox don’t like to pay their local talents when the time comes. The problem goes back to Smoky Joe Wood from the early 1900s team. Wood joined the team in 1908 and was a great two-way player. for him Contract sold to Clevelandthe first of many incidents in which the Boston team replaced players they had to keep.
They did the same with Harry Hopper and Reggie Smith, but that wouldn’t have made a difference in the 2022 squad. However, many players have been let go recently who are still actively playing and helping opposing teams.
Mookie Betts is one of the best examples of a modern player. Bates is a big hitter and he started his career with Boston in 2014, roughly when Bogarts started his career. He has cut .293/.368/.520 for the OPS from 0.88 during his career.
There are many similarities between him and Bogart. Bates still had a lot of talent when he left Boston. 2019 was his last season before joining the Los Angeles Dodgers, and over his last two seasons, he has earned two AL Gold Gloves, two Silver Sluggers, an MVP, and Defensive Player of the Year award, just to name a few.
Bogarts, in what is looking to be his last season with the Red Sox, continues to have a huge impact on the league in general. There are many reasons for Boston to extend it, but despite having one of the biggest payrolls in the league, they’re apparently not ready to pay it.
Although they have started talks with Devers, there is no promise that he will remain without the Bogaerts. The two have a bond and one outside the extension may cause the other to pull out as well. As if the roster without Bogaerts wouldn’t be bad enough, they might encounter one without Devers as well.
Now with the two of us reaching the finalists for Silver Slugger, how many more reasons does Boston need? I hope it isn’t much more than that. Expanding the range of his best players will go a long way in getting the team back on track.
[ad_2]
