The MLB offseason began in earnest this week, with MLB.com's Mark Feinsand reporting Tuesday that the Boston Red Sox have reached out to teams "regarding the availability of their second basemen" as a potential "Plan B" should Xander Bogaerts leave in free agency.
Feinsand's report heightened speculation that Bogaerts, who officially is a free agent after opting out of the final year of his contract, may not re-sign with the Red Sox.
But Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom would like everyone to slow their roll.
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"I would say that individual report is overblown," Bloom told reporters at the MLB general managers' meetings in Las Vegas, per Mass Live's Chris Cotillo. "We’re looking into a lot of different guys right now. Some of whom, obviously, intersect with our shortstop situation. Some of whom don’t. I wouldn’t read too much into that."
On one hand, Bloom's point is well-taken. Plenty of teams perform due diligence at this point in the offseason, and Bloom's staff wouldn't be doing its job if it wasn't exploring contingency plans in case Bogaerts leaves. Bloom insisted signing Bogaerts is still the team's No. 1 priority, but if that falls through, the second-best option would be acquiring a second baseman and sliding Trevor Story back to shortstop, his natural position.
"We’ll look at different options," Bloom said. "We talked about it internally. It’s not something we wanted to think about but we might have to think about it. We feel good about both those guys (Trevor Story and Kiké Hernández) being able to play there so I think it allows us to look at different options to add impact to the club.
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"Bottom line is that we need to make sure we’re using avenue to put a really good club out there in 2023. That’s what we’re doing."
As much as Bloom tries to downplay that Bogaerts report, however, there does seem to be a real possibility that the veteran shortstop signs elsewhere. Several projections have Bogaerts making north of $200 million on his next deal, and the Red Sox may not want to make that financial commitment to a 30-year-old player. And if they really wanted to keep Bogaerts, they would have made a more concerted effort to extend his contract before the season, instead of offering him a four-year, $90 million deal that he unsurprisingly turned down.
So, it's very possible that Boston's reported "Plan B" becomes its "Plan A." Just don't ask Bloom to say as much publicly.