The Boston Red Sox will not be contending in Major League Baseball’s postseason tournament this year. That means their season is scheduled to end on Oct. 5, forcing them to shift their focus on to 2023.
While the development of Boston’s young players has been at the forefront of everyone’s minds, the offseason will bring a litany of questions to answer. Chief among them? Xander Bogaerts contract situation. Red Sox CEO Sam Kennedy discussed the teams viewpoint as it prepares to for the winter.
“Given the long standing, decade and a half relationship that we have a (Bogaerts), there’s been communication throughout all season long. I mean, he’s very close to several of us in the front office. So there’s been communication throughout (the season) and then at the appropriate time, we’ll sit down with him and figure out path forward.
“… It’s his option that he negotiated for, so he will have a decision to make and we’ll have conversations from probably now until until it all gets sorted out. But we really are hopeful that that we can retain him as a part of this organization. I know people are tired of us saying that, and you know, at the end of the day, they’ll want to understand that that has happened. And we’re very hopeful to get there. He’s just such a great baseball player and a great person.”
Bogaerts himself addressed the situation Tuesday, agreeing that he hopes to stay in Boston for a long time. Throw in manager Alex Cora’s comments about being prepared to bring Bogey back, and it looks like everything is lining up for a reunion this winter.
Unfortunately, words can only do so much, and the two sides will likely need to come to an agreement on a new contract for the soon-to-be 30-year-old to remain in a Red Sox uniform.
