Well folks, it happened. It finally happened. It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise honestly. The writing has been on the wall for months. Xander Bogaerts is no longer a member of the Red Sox.
It’s a sad day for Sox Nation. Bogaerts is a homegrown talent. He’s been with the team for a decade. Bogaerts was a part of two championship winning teams and countless good memories.
I will sincerely miss him. Seeing him in another uniform is going to be such a strange feeling.
I do not blame Bogaerts at all for leaving either. $280 Million over 11 years is an offer he simply couldn’t refuse. It was honestly a “Godfather” type of deal.
I wish Xander nothing but the best in San Diego. Thank you for a decade of good times and memories. Both in person and on the screen. Your contributions to the Red Sox didn’t go unnoticed by the fans. Thank you X-Man.
Now that I got the niceties out of the way, it’s team I air my grievances with the Red Sox.
Angry Rant Starts Here
Let me state this first. I love the Boston Red Sox. Out of all the Boston sports teams, this is the one I loved first. I remember being six years old watching NESN in the morning before school to catch Sox highlights or Sox game replays.
Because the Red Sox were my first sports love, I’m going to be the hardest on them right now. Tough love is necessary sometimes. Please excuse some of my language during this rant I’m about to embark on.
John Henry, what the HELL happened??
HOW could this happen?? All day long, the Red Sox and their media made it seem like a deal with Bogaerts was imminent. They made it appear as if all was good in Sox Nation.
It’s almost like they saw the Yankees keep their homegrown star Aaron Judge, and saw all the goodwill from Yankee fans. They knew the backlash they’d get from Sox fans for letting Xander walk. So they sent out smokescreens assuring fans all was well.
The Red Sox reassured fans that Bogaerts was the team’s “top priority” this offseason.
So it appears all that talk was a bunch of bullshit. Boston was never going to sign Bogaerts back. That much has been clear for a while. For a brief moment, the team had me believe otherwise. In the end though, I knew what this team would do.
To be totally fair, I’m glad they didn’t give Xander that deal. The Padres absolutely overpayed. Deals with that many years never age well. I give that deal about five to six years before it starts looking bad for the Padres.
Had Boston signed him to that deal, it would have been bad. I think you’re seeing that sentiment from a lot of Sox fans. That many years for that much money is not honestly worth it. As great as Bogaerts is, that’s a clear overpay.
The problem is, that deal never should have been on the table. Boston never should have had to pay that much for Bogaerts. He should have never even been allowed to test free agency.
The fact of the matter is, the Red Sox absolutely fumbled his contract situation. They have had multiple chances over the past two years to get a deal done. Yet Boston continued to lowball him. They lowballed and lowballed, all the while his value continued to rise.
Boston did this to themselves. They could have had him for $200 Million or less had they signed him before the 2022 season. They could have had him for probably seven or eight years. Boston could have had him for so much less than what he just got. They shot themselves in the foot.
A Disturbing Trend
The reason we as Sox fans shouldn’t be surprised by all this is because it’s happened before. On multiple occasions. Remember Mookie Betts? Same exact scenario. Lowballed him continuously and his value just kept ballooning. To a point where he became too expensive.
A lot of people will point to Chaim Bloom. I’m not going to be the one to completely defend him. He’s a part of the problem. I’ve already seen plenty of #FireBloom tweets on Twitter. It’s understandable honestly. This disturbing trend of pissing off homegrown talent goes back before Bloom though.
It’s not just a Bloom problem. This is a Red Sox problem. It’s a John Henry problem.
The same thing happened with Jon Lester back in 2014. Boston kept lowballing him for years until it was too late. Then they dumped him off to Oakland. Years later that whole ordeal still pisses me off.
What truly annoys me about this trend is that it’s not befitting of a team like the Red Sox. If this was happening with the Oakland A’s, or the Cincinnati Reds I’d totally get it. They don’t have the money to make moves like this.
We aren’t those teams though. We are the Boston Red Sox for crying out loud. The Red Sox are the third highest valued team in baseball according to Forbes. Boston is the tenth best sports market in America across the four major sports, according to Sports Media Watch.
The Red Sox are one of the richest teams in baseball. They don’t act like it at all. Now I understand that was the point of bringing in Bloom. After the crazy spending of Dave Dombrowski, the organization wanted to build a contender with less payroll.
Respectable and understandable. However, you do have to pay SOME players. Unfortunately, Boston has opted to shell out for the likes of Chris Sale and Trevor Story. Instead of homegrown guys like Betts and Bogaerts.
Say what you want about Dombrowski, but his methods produced a championship. He just lead the Phillies to the World Series. The man spends heavy and takes risks. The thing is, he’s now lead three different organizations to the World Series.
He was successful in Detroit, Boston, and now Philadelphia. Dombrowski is obviously doing something right. Perhaps Bloom should take more pages out of his book. Perhaps Henry should have never let him go.
This Isn’t Over
The worst part is, this isn’t over. It’s still happening as we speak. The Xander situation is finished. However the Rafael Devers situation is just heating up. This time next year, Boston will be in the exact same spot.
They’ve handled Devers the same way they handled Bogaerts, Betts, and Lester. Lowball, lowball, lowball. Boston waits and waits and waits until they become too expensive.
I love the Red Sox, with all my heart I do. That doesn’t excuse the fact that they have mishandled so many great situations. Superstars that franchises would kill to have. It’s pathetic and sad at the same time. This ends my rant, but it probably won’t be the last.
Not with Rafael Devers still unsigned.
Featured Photo by Jim Davis/Boston Globe
