If you are in the camp of wanting shortstop Xander Bogaerts to play out the rest of his career with the Boston Red Sox, then manager Alex Cora's latest comments will inspire much-needed optimism.
“I do believe going into whatever situation comes up in the upcoming weeks or months, whatever, we’re going to be prepared to bring Xander back,” Cora told The Ringer's Brian Barrett on the "Off the Pike" podcast. “You know, obviously it takes two. Like I’ve always said, the ball’s in his court right now. He’s the one that has to decide whether he’s going to opt in or opt-out, right? And we know about his agent. I have a great relationship with Scott (Boras) and we’ll see what happens.”
Cora saying he is preparing as if Bogey will be back in a Red Sox uniform is encouraging it's more than just wishful thinking. Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom uttered similar comments, saying the 29-year-old is a guy "you want to have here hopefully for his whole career."
While Bogaerts' focus in the coming months will be to find a new deal, he'll first focus on claiming the first American League Batting Title of his career, with an added bonus of eliminating New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge from capturing an AL Triple Crown.
The unofficial captain of the Red Sox is hitting .314 with 38 doubles, 14 home runs, 68 RBIs and a .848 OPS in 140 games. It's being considered a down year, which tells you how talented Bogaerts truly is.
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