While Xander Bogaerts faces an uncertain future, the high esteem in which the Boston Red Sox hold him remains beyond dispute.
Red Sox president and CEO Sam Kennedy praised the star shortstop Friday during an appearance on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” for how he conducted himself in recent weeks while negotiating a contract extension.
Bogaerts and the Red Sox failed to agree to a new contract prior to their Opening Day deadline, and he can opt out of his current deal after the 2022 season.
“We appreciate the way Xander has handled everything: handled himself, handled our conversations,” Kennedy said, as seen in a video WEEI shared on YouTube. “I’ll leave it at that, other than to say we really do appreciate his approach. We try to keep those conversations private and we’ll keep talking, keep the conversations going and turn our attention to this season. We really do appreciate how he has handled himself and we’ll keep those conversations between our sides.”
When asked whether the contract impasse might affect Bogaerts and the Red Sox in 2022, Kennedy expressed faith in the club’s ability to steer the ship clear of potentially choppy waters.
“You do it with open, honest, transparent communication, and there’s no one better at that than (manager) Alex Cora and the leadership in that clubhouse, among the veteran guys and (chief baseball officer) Chaim Bloom, (general manager) Brian O’Halloran and their baseball operations staff have made it a practice of making sure their communication is free-flowing, everyone knows what we’re trying to do here, what we’re trying to build here,” Kennedy said. “You want that direct communication and hopefully that will eliminate any chance of issues popping up, and that’s really what we try and focus on.”
Bogaerts undoubtedly will face further questions about his contract and future in Boston. He almost certainly will handle them and himself in a way that continues to make the Red Sox proud of the player and person he has become over his historic nine-plus seasons with the team.
