Background:
Set to enter his eighth full season in Boston, Xander Bogaerts is the unofficial captain of the Red Sox. Ever since his late-season arrival in 2013, the homegrown infielder has become a consistent presence both in the field and in the middle of the lineup. It feels as if we've grown use to Bogaerts holding things down at shortstop, but this was once a position that mostly resembled a revolving door for the franchise.
Following the 2004 midseason trade of Nomar Garciaparra, we witnessed a litany of players pass through this position, often for just a season or two. Yet somewhat incredibly, Bogaerts has already played the fifth most games all time as the shortstop of the Boston Red Sox. He's on pace to become the club's all-time leader midway through the 2022 campaign.
2020:
Offensively, Bogaerts broke out for good in 2018. Up until then he was mostly viewed as someone who his for average and some occasional pop. From 2014-17 he hit 12, 7, 21, and 10 homers respectively. But it all clicked with the arrival of manager Alex Cora in '18, who encouraged X to be more aggressive on pitches down the middle of the plate. Whereas the Red Sox used to be known for taking pitches and driving up pitches counts, the most recent World Series title was won by an aggressive approach at middle-middle offerings. His best season was 2019, totaling 33 homers, 117 RBI, 110 runs, a .309 BA, and a .939 OPS.
Anyways, it was more of the same for Bogaerts last summer. He hit an even .300 with a rock-solid .866 OPS and 11 homers in 56 games. He even went a perfect 8-for-8 in stolen base attempts. In a year where so much went wrong for Boston, Bogaerts was his consistently great self.
Contract Situation:
Prior to 2019 Bogaerts signed a (somewhat team-friendly) six-year, $120 million extension that kicked in this past summer. This contract takes him through the 2026 season, though he has an opt out after 2022.
2021 And Beyond:
The potential opt out is going to be an interesting situation for Boston. I discussed the reliability he has given us as a shortstop during his tenure with the franchise. While Bogaerts is able to make all the plays hit in his vicinity with relative ease, he doesn't have high-end range and is therefore pretty average defensively. There are some rumors that the Sox are going hard after Trevor Story next offseason, which would bring into question the future defensive homes of both Bogaerts and Rafael Devers. Would pursuing Story be enough of a turn off for Bogaerts that he'd opt out and leave? It's tough to say.
As for 2021, X is projected to hit either fourth or fifth as of now. While he isn't a Statcast darling by any means, there's no reason to expect his production to suffer in the slightest.
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