Boston offered star Xander Bogaerts an offensive extension

The Red Sox rumored to give franchise star Xander Bogaerts a “slap in the face” with a renewal offer.

The Boston Red Sox are set to open Fenway Park for the season on Friday, but they’re starting the celebrations on a sour note, reportedly belittling one of the faces of the franchise.

Classic.

According to Jon Heyman, shortstop Xander Bogaerts and the Sox are about $100 million apart in their renewal negotiations. The MLB insider reported that the front office of one of the richest teams in pro sports simply offered to add another year and another $30 million to Bogaerts’ current, very team-friendly deal.

With such a low offer, why even bother? A source close to Bogaerts aptly described it as “a slap in the face”.

Red Sox offer to Xander Bogaerts allegedly called a ‘slap in the face’

Bogaerts and the recently returned Jackie Bradley Jr. are the longest-serving players in the current roster. Debuting in 2013, they have helped their team to two of their four championships in 15 years, the most in Major League Baseball since the start of the new millennium. Bogaerts, now 29, has been with the organization since he was 16 when they discovered him and his twin brother Jair in Aruba.

In his first decade with the majors, Bogaerts developed into one of the best offensive shortstops in the game. He is a four-time Silver Slugger and three-time All-Star who has received MVP votes in each of the past four seasons. Between 2018-19, he hit 97 doubles and 56 home runs, scored 182 goals and racked up 220 RBI. Aside from his 18-game debut in 2013 and the shortened 2020 season, he has played more than 144 games in every season of his career.

Compare Bogaerts to Corey Seager, Francisco Lindor and Fernando Tatis Jr., three shortstops who have landed $300 million in deals over the last two years, and there really is no competition. Since 2019, the first season all four were in the league, Bogaerts have played in more games than any of them, beating them by a wide margin in almost every category. He’s got 412 hits, none of them have more than 341. He’s doubled 96 times, none of them have 80. He’s pulled in 225 RBI, they couldn’t crack 200.

Tatis hit more home runs, giving him a higher slugging percentage and OPS. But while Bogaerts struck 282 times in 360 games, the young Padres star k-ed a whopping 324 times in just 273 contests. Tatis and Lindor steal more bases, but overall Bogaerts did the most and paid the least. Factor in his leadership skills at the Boston clubhouse, as well as his extensive postseason experience, and it’s no contest.

Will the Red Sox’s handling of Xander Bogaerts lead to a repeat of Mookie Betts’ departure?

There have been many lowball “offers” in franchise history, and it almost always ends with a beloved star leaving. Mookie Betts and Jon Lester come to mind, and like Bogaerts, Lester was willing to take a discount to stay in Boston “until they rip that jersey off my back.”

David Ortiz took famous several Discounts to stay with the Sox. Despite this, he wrote in his autobiography that they tried to needle him for money every time while making lucrative long-term deals for players like Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Pablo Sandoval, none of whom survived three years into their contracts with the team or nearly contributed so much.

Ortiz said the only simple negotiations he had were after he said he was thinking about retirement. At that point, the ownership group stated that they would pay him whatever it would take for him to end his career with the team.

Bogaerts has already taken a discount. In 2019, he approached the Red Sox and opened talks about an extension, which is rare for a Scott Boras client. They agreed to a six-year, $120 million contract with a guaranteed average annual salary of $20 million. He’s on a full no-trade clause but may opt out after this season, which is something everyone has come to expect from him, especially given this reported offer.

I recently warned Red Sox fans who were mocking the Yankees for not coming to terms with their own soon-to-be free agent, Aaron Judge, saying that people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw rocks. Or in this case fans of a team with two Keeping faces of the franchise shouldn’t make fun of a team that only has to deal with one. Because while the Yankees Judge are making big offers, the Red Sox went out and signed a contingency plan in the form of shortstop Trevor Story. At least the Yankees and Judge are on different sides of the same stadium; the Sox and Bogaerts don’t even share the same zip code.

Chaim Bloom, president of baseball operations, a byproduct of the thrifty Tampa Bay Rays, says the organization is “hopeful” they can “keep both guys,” but that’s about as significant as a sandcastle on the beach. The Sox certainly can Afford to do them lucrative business. After all, they just gave Garrett Whitlock a very nice four-year extension a incredible rookie season. And not only are they one of the richest teams in the league, but they also have cash off the books at the end of the season.

Nathan Eovaldi will be a free agent, they have a club option on James Paxton and Michael Wacha and Rich Hill have only signed one-year contracts. The Sox also crossed the luxury tax threshold to sign Story, another slap in the face for Bogaerts and Rafael Devers, who also keep them low.

The general question here is how often can the Red Sox do this? Bogaerts and his “little brother” Devers have made it clear that they plan to spend their entire careers in Red Sox uniforms. Both are extremely talented players on their own, but even more impressive when they’re together. They bring so much to this team and want to see it through to the end, but the ownership group seems to care so little for daring to offer them such low prices in the first place.

If Heyman’s report is true and this was their offer to Bogaerts then he should have a monster season and fold. He turns 30 in October and this is his chance to land the big deal he deserves.

Bogaerts deserves better, and if the Sox don’t give him that, then they deserve to lose him.