Red Sox organizational plan continues to be a complete mystery
By Colin Lynch
The Red Sox and the Xander Bogaerts debacle
This is a difficult topic, as the wounds are still fresh. Looking at Xander Bogaerts in San Diego Padres brown and yellow is horrific.
There were many signs on and off the field that screamed to keep X in Boston. There are no reasons to recite his numbers or accolades; they’re there. He handled himself as well as anyone could have hoped. He was incredible in the community, loved by fans, and respected and adored by teammates. He showed up when the lights were brightest and was the first to speak up and take the blame when the Sox didn’t get the job done. And most beautifully of all, he was only ever a Red Sox.
This was fumbled and flubbed in so many ways by Bloom and the Red Sox; it’s hard to even know where to begin.
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If Marcelo Mayer is one of the major factors for not bringing Bogaerts back, it’d be helpful if someone within the organization could be honest about it because that is a mildly acceptable reason why Xander lives in California now. But the way that Bloom and his team handled this situation was not.
The worst part of all this is that with every passing day, the Red Sox contingency plan at shortstop appears to be no plan at all. They were never in the Carlos Correa sweepstakes and never should have been. They pump faked like they were interested in Dansby Swanson as they have a hand full of other high-profile free agents this Winter.
It seemed like maybe Story would move over despite the shoulder injury, but now there are rumblings that they could be in the trade market for Xander’s replacement in the middle of the diamond as opposed to an internal solution. It just feels like the plan was to not pay Bogaerts and live with whatever happens next, and Red Sox nation simply deserves better.