MLB Rumors: ‘Eager Suitor’ Already Eyeing Red Sox’s Xander Bogaerts?

Teams across Major League Baseball undoubtedly are monitoring Xander Bogaerts’ contract situation with the Boston Red Sox.

Bogaerts, who signed a six-year, $120 million contract extension in 2019, can opt out of his deal and become a free agent this offseason, a likely scenario given his continued production and his potential to land a more lucrative payday on the open market.

The question then becomes: Who might be the Red Sox’s primary competition in their effort to re-sign the All-Star shortstop?

Well, The Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham over the weekend pointed to the Philadelphia Phillies as a potential landing spot.

“Hearing that if the Sox let Xander Bogaerts get to the open market, the Phillies will be eager suitors,” Abraham wrote.

Of course, it’s important to note there’s still time for Bogaerts and the Red Sox to reach an agreement on a long-term contract — before he tests free agency. And even if Bogaerts opts out, the sides still could work out a deal — perhaps after he’s explored other options.

The Red Sox have made clear publicly they’d love to retain Bogaerts. And the four-time All-Star has expressed his desire to stay in Boston, as well. Until Bogaerts signs on the dotted line, in Boston or elsewhere, there’s going to be speculation regarding his future, and Philadelphia makes sense as a potential external destination given the Phillies’ 2022 shortstop troubles and Dave Dombrowski’s status as the team’s president of baseball operations.

Dombrowski served as Boston’s president of baseball operations from August 2015 until September 2019, after which the Red Sox hired Chaim Bloom as chief baseball officer. It obviously would be fascinating to see them compete for Bogaerts’ services this winter, but one would imagine the Red Sox have a leg up on the rest of the league given the longstanding relationship between the player and the organization.

Bogaerts, who turns 30 on Oct. 1, signed with the Red Sox as a 16-year-old international free agent in 2009. He’s now in the midst of his 10th big league season with Boston.