Xander Bogaerts has been worth every penny of the six-year, $120 million contract extension he signed with the Red Sox prior to the 2019 season.
The 26-year-old has arguably been Boston's most valuable player, slashing .304/.381/.552 with 25 home runs and 88 RBI entering Tuesday night. It's safe to assume Bogaerts would have received a far more lucrative contract in free agency had he produced this kind of season before hitting the market.
But there's no way of knowing how things would have gone for the All-Star shortstop had he not signed his extension in April, and he explained that to WEEI's Rob Bradford on the "Bradfo Show" podcast.
“I don’t know. Especially the way our team was playing,” Bogaerts told Bradford. “We had a lot of ups and downs and that can affect you sometimes because you might want to try and do too much for the team and you start getting into a bigger hole. I wouldn’t know."
Bogaerts makes it clear he regrets nothing about his decision to commit to Boston.
“I was more happy with being here and knowing everyone that’s here for all these years and all the guys I came up with, such a special year last year with our coaching staff," he said. "I think just knowing everyone from front office down was … These guys always want to win. They’re always going to put out the best team they can possibly put out.”
Boston Red Sox
Bogaerts has been a bright spot in what's been a frustrating season for the Red Sox. Boston currently sits in distant third place (17.5 games back) in the American League East and 8.5 games behind in the wild-card race.
After locking down extensions with Bogaerts and ace Chris Sale, the focus now is on J.D. Martinez's potential opt-out situation and Mookie Betts' contract.
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