Red Sox Extension Offer To Xander Bogaerts Seen As 'Slap In The Face'
BOSTON (CBS) -- When asked about his contract negotiations with the Red Sox ahead of the season, Xander Bogaerts seemed pretty disappointed about how things went. Now we understand why.
According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, Boston offered Bogaerts a four-year deal for around $90 million. Bogaerts can opt out of the final three years of his deal at the end of the season, which would pay him $20 million per season. Boston's latest offer would have paid Bogaerts the same amount over the next three years, with a $30 million salary for the fourth year.
Heyman reported that there's a $100 million gap between Bogaerts and the Red Sox, and Bogaerts' side didn't bother to make a counter offer.
"A friend of Bogaerts referred to Boston's bid as a 'slap in the face,'" Heyman wrote.
If you were hoping Bogaerts would spend his entire career in Boston, this is certainly not the news you want to read. Bogaerts -- who gave Boston a hometown discount when he signed a six-year, $120 million deal in 2019 -- said ahead of Opening Day that he did not want to negotiate a new deal during the season because he didn't want it to become a distraction for the team.
"We had time to get something done. It didn't work out," said Bogaerts.
This new offer to Bogaerts brings back memories of 2014, when the Red Sox offered ace Jon Lester a four-year, $70 million contract the season before he hit free agency. Lester rejected that offer, and was traded to Oakland at the deadline that season. He signed with the Chicago Cubs that following offseason.
Boston did sign Trevor Story to a six-year, $140 million contract late in Spring Training and moved the former Rockies shortstop to second base. So the team does have some insurance should Bogaerts depart next winter. The Red Sox also have to worry about re-signing third baseman Rafael Devers, who is under team control through next season, but those negotiations did not go well this offseason either.
The 29-year-old Bogaerts has spent his entire career in Boston after signing as an amateur free agent in 2009 at the age of 16. He made his Red Sox debut in 2013 and helped the team win a World Series that fall, one of the two rings that he's won in Boston. He's been named an All-Star three times in his career, along with winning four Silver Slugger awards.