Chaim Bloom on Xander Bogaerts: "He's our first choice" at shortstop
BOSTON -- Xander Bogaerts is a free agent after opting out of the final three years of his contract with the Red Sox, but the Boston brass remains committed to bringing the shortstop back.
Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said Monday night that Bogaerts remains the team's "first choice" at shortstop.
"We want him here. He makes us better," Bloom told Alex Spier of The Boston Globe at the GM Meetings in Las Vegas. "We respect his right to exercise [the opt-out] and to explore the market. We want him back and we will stay engaged with him."
Extension talks between Bogaerts and the Sox were shelved at the end of spring training, after Boston offered to add one year at $30 million to the final three years of the six-year, $120 million deal that Bogaerts signed prior to the 2019 season. The shortstop balked at that offer, talks never got going again, and now Bogaerts is a free agent for the first time of his career.
Bloom said Monday that Boston considers Trevor Story and Enrique Hernandez as in-house options at shortstop should Bogaerts sign elsewhere. He also said that the team will explore the enticing shortstop market in free agency, with shortstops like Carlos Correa, Trea Turner, and Dansby Swanson all available to the highest bidder.
But Bloom made it clear that Bogaerts is his and the team's preference.
"He's our first choice. That's not going to change," said Bloom. "Part of our jobs is to explore every option to field a contending team next year and put together a really good group. We need to explore every possible way to do that, but Bogey's our first choice."
Bogaerts originally signed with the Red Sox as an international free agent at the age of 16, and has spent the last decade manning shortstop for the team. He's earned four All-Star nods and two World Series wins during his tenure in Boston.
Last season, Bogaerts slashed .307/.377/.456 with 15 homers, 38 doubles, 73 RBIs, and 84 runs scored for the Red Sox.
