The Boston Red Sox certainly are going to look different in 2023.
After finishing in last place in the American League East in 2022 Boston ultimately may be better in 2023, but will be without the services of longtime shortstop Xander Bogaerts.
The four-time All-Star signed an 11-year contract with the San Diego Padres worth $280 million after spending the first 10 years of his MLB career manning shortstop for the Red Sox.
Rumors swirled throughout the 2022 campaign whether or not the Red Sox would be able to get a deal done after failing to sign Bogaerts to an extension before the season kicked off. Boston said all of the right things and claimed signing Bogaerts was the team's top priority, but never seemed to offer a deal that was worth consideration. Boston made a push at the end to sign Bogaerts, but ultimately never got close according to the shortstop.
“Once it got towards the ending, it was like, ‘Nah, come on man,'” Bogaerts said to Rob Bradford on the "Baseball Isn't Boring" podcast. “Not even too close, but it was like, ‘I gave you guys all the chances, all the opportunities.'”
Boston reportedly offered Bogaerts a six-year contract worth roughly $160 million, according to the Boston Globe's Alex Speier. The Red Sox's offer to Bogaerts actually had a higher annual value than the Padres' did, but San Diego offered five more seasons of stability that Boston didn't get close to.
On the bright side for the Red Sox they do have top prospect Marcelo Mayer working his way up through the farm system and he is the heir apparent to Bogaerts and will be in the big leagues sooner rather than later. Although this is the case, Bogaerts spent his entire professional career with the club to this point and helped lead Boston to two World Series titles. It's going to take a lot of getting used to seeing someone else playing shortstop but hopefully, Mayer can arrive soon.
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