Xander Bogaerts has been a shortstop his entire Major League Baseball career and he intends to keep it that way.
For the last few seasons, fans have been wondering how Bogaerts would look at second base. Those kinds of conversations intensified when Carlos Correa’s contract expired with the Houston Astros, and it’s unclear what his future holds.
While an infield that includes Correa, Bogaerts and Rafael Devers would without a doubt be lethal, it appears Bogaerts has no desire to move from his natural position.
“Bro. I’m a shortstop, man. That’s where I’ve played my whole career,” Bogaerts told reporters, per NBC Sports Boston. “Obviously it’s a position I take a lot of pride in. If you look at my numbers, they’ve been pretty good for these years. I like being there. That’s it.
“Sometimes it’s like I don’t even know if I’m on the team. It’s like, ‘Hey, I’m here.’ But what are you going to do? … It’s out of my control, I can’t do much about it. But it’s like, ‘hey, I exist, I’m here.’ It is what it is.”
Bogaerts also revealed that no one from the Red Sox has asked him about moving positions and that he indeed is trying to work on his defense at shortstop.
The All-Star shortstop can opt-out of his contract after the 2022 season, but that will be a bridge the Red Sox will cross when they reach it.
For now, though, expect Bogaerts to start (and finish) the upcoming season at shortstop.
