Boston Red Sox

Time is running out for the Boston Red Sox to extend the contract of Rafael Devers.

The third baseman, who is set to become a free agent after the 2023 campaign, "will not entertain negotiations with the Red Sox during the season," and an extension would need to be agreed upon by the end of spring training, sources told Alex Speier of the Boston Globe.

The Red Sox begin spring training in February and the team's final preseason game is on March 28. They open the regular season on March 30 against the Baltimore Orioles.

Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom recently expressed the team's desire to retain Devers in an interview with ESPN's Joon Lee:

"We will probably, I think, go beyond reason to try to get this done. Hopefully we can get this done. There are always going to be limitations, like people can just put something plain out of reach. Some people love to bet on themselves and I hope he hits 63 homers if he does that."

While Bloom has continued to reiterate the club's desire to keep Devers in Boston beyond 2023, actions speak louder than words, and the two sides are currently "galaxies apart" in negotiations, Lee reported.

The situation with Devers has become all too familiar in Boston, with the most recent example being the departure of star shortstop Xander Bogaerts, who signed with the San Diego Padres this winter.

The Red Sox made Bogaerts a laughable offer during spring training that would have made his contract worth $90 million over four years. The offer was viewed as a "slap in the face" and he went on to play the entire 2022 season without negotiating a contract before signing an 11-year, $280 million deal with the Padres.

If the same thing happens to Devers, he would be the latest homegrown star to depart the Red Sox organization over the lack of a respectable contract, joining Bogaerts and Mookie Betts, who was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in February 2020 before signing a 12-year, $365 million deal.

Devers, 26, has spent his entire six-year career in Boston and helped the club capture the 2018 World Series title. He has emerged as one of the best third basemen in baseball over the last two seasons, earning two All-Star Game selections and a Silver Slugger award in 2021.

Devers had an impressive 2022 campaign despite the Red Sox finishing last in the AL East with a 78-84 record. He slashed .295/.358/.521 with 27 home runs and 88 RBI in 141 games.

The Dominican native is reportedly seeking a contract extension in the neighborhood of $300 million. For a player who has hit 139 home runs and drove in 455 runs over his six-year career, the investment would be worth it for Boston.

But if Bloom fails to make a deal happen, the Red Sox fan base will be left scratching their heads once again.

The Boston Red Sox have been through such things as an 86-year championship drought, Chicken-and-Beer-Gate and Bobby Valentine's managing, so the phrase "low point" has no business being used in conjunction with the offseason they're having.

But "baffling point?" Or "befuddling point?" Now we're talking.

While other teams revel in their contributions to Major League Baseball's record-setting $3.5 billion offseason, the Red Sox are in a corner typically reserved for the Eeyores and Richie Tenenbaums of the world. Heavy losses will do that, and it feels like they've suffered even more of those this winter than they did during their pitiful 36-53 slide to last place in the American League East during the back half of the 2022 season.

Franchise shortstop Xander Bogaerts? He's gone to the San Diego Padres, and who can blame him? Especially now that, courtesy of ESPN's Joon Lee, it's out there that Boston set the stage for his exit with "a slap" of an initial offer.

Chaim Bloom has been re-living the Xander Bogaerts negotiations in his head

“There are a couple of regrets”

The decision to let Bogaerts walk have prompted questions about whether the ownership group is committed to winning

On the state of the Red Sox:https://t.co/RNDeKc92Bn

— Joon Lee (@joonlee) December 19, 2022

Fellow middle-of-the-lineup mainstay J.D. Martinez? He's now a Los Angeles Dodger. Lefty sidewinder Matt Strahm? A Philadelphia Phillie. Fellow hurlers Nathan Eovaldi, Michael Wacha and Rich Hill can still technically return to Beantown, but rumors of interest in each of them elsewhere don't bode well in the context of all of the above.

Even Boston's less painful departures still hurt in other ways. The designations for assignment of Eric Hosmer and Jeter Downs, specifically, leave the Red Sox with even less to show for trades involving young lefty Jay Groome and some guy named Mookie Betts.

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This Isn't for Lack of Trying (and That's Not a Compliment)

The ironic part is that the Red Sox's offseason actually started on a positive note.

They began dealing before the '22 season was even over, inking Enrique Hernández to a $10 million extension in September. An encouraging move on its own, and that much more so, given what chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom told the versatile 31-year-old.

"I'm not going to say he promised me," Hernández said, "but he promised me that we're going to be way better next year."

So it went in October, when there was buzz about the Red Sox extending Bogaerts and adding much-needed power. And into November, wherein Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic wrote that the Red Sox were showing a "strong willingness to spend." And even to earlier this month, when Bloom openly spoke of adding "seven, eight, nine, maybe more players."

It all sounded so good. And not even too good to be true, either.

Boston's projected 2023 payroll was at one point more than $80 million in average annual value short of next year's $233 million luxury-tax threshold. It's also not as if the Red Sox have been strangers to big spending in 20 years under John Henry, whose Fenway Sports Group empire is reportedly worth $9.8 billion.

And yet, here they are. Not just with a cringe-worthy list of departures but sans even one of the market's top-25 free agents or a single upgrade via the trade market. All because of hubris. Or maybe ignorance. Or some combination of the two.

It's all there in the Bogaerts saga. The supposed slap-like offer that Boston made him during spring training called for him to get another year and $30 million on top of the three years and $60 million he had remaining on his contract. At $90 million, the total guarantee was $50 million less than what the Red Sox had just given to Trevor Story.

Fast-forward to December, and Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reported Boston's final offer to be a whopping $120 million south of the $280 million he got from the Padres.

The Red Sox offer to Bogaerts was for 6 years and roughly $160M - a higher AAV (roughly $27M) than he got from SD ($25.5M), but with such a massive gap in term that it wasn’t close https://t.co/uqaU854bFu via @BostonGlobe

— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) December 8, 2022

Even at the time, Boston seemed guilty of misreading the market. It was apparent that it was going to be hotter than expected when relievers Rafael Montero and Robert Suárez signed above-market deals in November. Once Jacob deGrom, Trea Turner and Aaron Judge greeted the winter meetings with deals worth a combined $845 million, even more so.

Now there's no longer any need to speculate. This quote from Bogaerts' agent, Scott Boras, on the Red Sox to Lee speaks volumes: "I can only say that the market for Xander was very different from what their models said. But that's happened before."

It's easy to put this on Bloom, and not undeservedly so, given Boras' subsequent shade about Bloom's player evaluations being "very defined." Yet ample blame must also be set aside for Henry and co-owners Tom Werner and Larry Lucchino. Bloom is their guy, after all, and one wonders if his valuations are so strict because his budget is, too.

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What the Red Sox Have Done Isn't Nearly Good Enough

The Red Sox have, of course, not been totally derelict in their duty of improving the team.

Spotrac puts their free-agent spending at $73.2 million, which covers third baseman Justin Turner and relievers Kenley Jansen, Chris Martin and Joely Rodríguez. It's technically not counting Japanese star Masataka Yoshida, who inked a five-year, $90 million pact with Boston.

Heck of a lot of good it's done them, though. If FanGraphs' WAR projections for 2023 are any indication, the Red Sox are on track to be one of the AL's worst teams once again:

This right here highlights the major distinction between the Red Sox and other offseason losers like, say, the Los Angeles Dodgers. Though they've also suffered heavy losses while doing less than expected, they still project as a top-five team in the National League.

And this outlook might actually be too bullish on Boston, if for no other reason than it's contingent on the extremely unlikely possibility of the club getting 3.0 WAR from an older, more injury-prone Chris Sale.

There's likewise room for doubt as to whether Jansen will solidify Boston's bullpen from the top down. His reputation precedes him, but he's fresh off a career-high contact rate, and his slow tempo casts him as a bad fit for the upcoming pitch timer.

The Red Sox may therefore need their offense to do the heavy lifting in 2023, perhaps to a point where it'll need to be even better than the unit that finished fourth in the AL in scoring this past season.

This, also, is extremely unlikely.

The Red Sox will need Turner and Yoshida to be at least as good as Bogaerts and Martinez, who combined for a 127 wRC+ in 2022. Alas, the 38-year-old Turner is effectively an older and less powerful Martinez. And while Yoshida was a .326 hitter with decent power in Japan, seemingly nobody but the Red Sox believe he'll be an impact hitter in the majors.

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Good Luck Trying to Salvage This Offseason

The silver lining should be that the Red Sox still have ample time to salvage their offseason, but what they don't have in as much abundance as time is options.

The free-agent market, as noted, has largely been picked clean. That basically leaves the trade market, which Bloom identified as "a really good route to adding impact to our club" to Chad Jennings of The Athletic.

In the wake of Xander Bogaerts leaving for San Diego, the Red Sox are shifting their focus to the trade market.
“It’s something we are very, very actively exploring,” Chaim Bloom said. https://t.co/NNvb5Ejs6Q

— Chad Jennings (@chadjennings22) December 12, 2022

And yet, it's doubtful that slugging first base prospect Triston Casas and hard-throwing righty Brayan Bello are going anywhere while they're slated to be a part of the big club in 2023. One supposes there's always Bobby Dalbec and Jarren Duran, but they have "value" like Wally has a full set of fingers.

None of this necessarily helps Boston's leverage in trade talks. Nor does the fact that the club's predicament is an open secret. It's hard to imagine them getting a favorable deal on anyone, particularly not on guys like Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Bryan Reynolds (who wants out) and Cleveland Guardians shortstop Amed Rosario (who seems redundant).

Rather than miraculously acquiring immediate upgrades, the Red Sox's best hope for redeeming their offseason concerns Rafael Devers.

Ideally, the Red Sox will extend him before free agency calls his number after the 2023 season. The two-time All-Star third baseman is only 26 and thus a relatively safe bet for the kind of lifetime contract that's suddenly en vogue around MLB.

But since the word from Lee is that Devers and the Red Sox are "galaxies apart" in negotiations—and, boy, does that track right now— it's hard not to ponder if trading Devers is the more practical thing to do.

Even setting aside the galactic gulf in contract talks, there's logic in selling high on him now while he's riding high after slamming 65 home runs across 2021 and 2022. Perhaps he'll remain that guy in 2023, but there's always the possibility of him running afoul of injuries or ineffectiveness and losing value accordingly.

This, to be sure, is the nuclear option for what offseason the Red Sox have left to work with. But, hey, the fact that anyone can even have this thought is on them.

When you go from teasing the construction of a "way better" team to desperately trying to avoid becoming an even worse team, you've messed up.

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Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.

Some members of the Boston Red Sox front office have questioned the decision-making process of chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, according to Joon Lee of ESPN.

"One front-office official said Bloom's deliberate process toward making moves—asking many people for their input before making a decision—can put the Red Sox in a position to fall behind, reacting to other teams versus setting the market," Lee added.

The reaction comes after the Red Sox missed out on re-signing shortstop Xander Bogaerts, who instead agreed to a 11-year, $280 million deal with the San Diego Padres.

Bogaerts had hoped to return to the Red Sox, but the team's offer was well short of what the Padres eventually gave him.

"There are a couple of regrets," Bloom said of negotiations with Bogaerts.

The 39-year-old still justified his process of involving others.

"I think we have a culture where people can and do express directly to me when they disagree with something," Bloom said. "We have a lot of people in the loop on transactions that we make and we have a lot of really good debate. We have a place where people can share their opinion and have it be heard."

The internal question marks could still be a problem, especially with fans getting agitated after a second last-place finish in the last three years.

The loss of a homegrown talent like Bogaerts is especially disappointing after trading away Mookie Betts in 2020. The centerpiece of that deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Jeter Downs, was designated for assignment last week.

Boston also traded away Andrew Benintendi, while Rafael Devers is set to become a free agent next offseason.

Bloom joined the Red Sox in 2019, just one year removed from a World Series title, but there has been little to show from his three years at the helm.

Boston Red Sox will have to watch Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts in different uniforms during the 2023 season, and another star may soon be on the way out.

Third baseman Rafael Devers is set for free agency following the upcoming campaign, and Joon Lee of ESPN reported that he and the Red Sox are "galaxies apart" when it comes to contract negotiations.

As of Monday, Devers' camp expects him to be a free agent after his contract expires.

It is probably fair for Boston fans to be concerned with a seemingly growing pattern of star departures.

Lee noted the Red Sox did not want to give Betts a $400 million contract and promptly traded him to the Los Angeles Dodgers ahead of the 2020 season. While he was unwilling to accept a team-friendly deal, he did want to stay put ahead of the trade.

Similarly, Bogaerts wanted to remain with the Red Sox and apparently even said he'd be willing to move to second or third base from his shortstop spot down the line. Yet the front office didn't match the San Diego Padres' 11-year, $280 million deal this offseason, and Bogaerts didn't want to settle for a hometown discount.

In fact, Lee reported one source close to Bogaerts said he viewed Boston's previous offer of an additional year and $30 million on top of the three years and $60 million he had left on his old contract like "a slap."

That is the backdrop for the Devers' negotiations, which are seemingly just starting up in earnest.

"We will probably, I think, go beyond reason to try to get this done," chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said. "Hopefully we can get this done. There are always going to be limitations, like people can just put something plain out of reach. Some people love to bet on themselves and I hope he hits 63 homers if he does that."

There will be plenty of pressure on the front office to "get this done."

Devers is in the middle of his prime at 26 years old and already has a resume that includes a World Series title, two All-Star selections and a Silver Slugger. Losing him after losing Betts and Bogaerts would be quite a blow for one of the most high-profile organizations in the sport.

He slashed .295/.358/.521 with 27 home runs and 88 RBI after launching a career-best 38 home runs with 113 RBI in 2022.

Boston is coming off a last place finish in the American League East at 78-84 and has made the playoffs just once since it won the 2018 World Series. Forbes lists the franchise as the third-most valuable in all of MLB, and there is surely some angst within the fanbase ahead of the 2023 season.

Re-signing Devers is one way to address that, but the two sides apparently have plenty of work left to do before reaching an agreement.

Xander Bogaerts reportedly felt disrespected by the Boston Red Sox before he chose to sign with the San Diego Padres on an 11-year, $280 million deal.

According to Joon Lee of ESPN, Bogaerts "would have seriously considered" a contract extension in the range of Trevor Story's six-year, $140 million pact that he signed with the Red Sox ahead of the 2022 campaign.

However, the American League East team instead offered him one more year and $30 million on top of the three years and $60 million he had remaining on his previous deal. Someone close to the shortstop said he interpreted that offer as "a slap."

That didn't stop him from thanking the fans:

Xander Bogaerts posted a farewell to Red Sox fans on Instagram pic.twitter.com/xrMYqr552a

— Joon Lee (@joonlee) December 19, 2022

It seems that Boston had a path to prevent Bogaerts from even hitting free agency at 30 years old. Lee explained the four-time All-Star wanted to remain with the Red Sox for his entire career and was even willing to move to second or third base down the line if necessary.

However, he did not want to accept a team-friendly deal just for the sake of staying put, and the Padres "significantly outbid Boston" after he hit free agency this offseason.

"There are a couple of regrets," Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said of the negotiation process with Bogaerts.

While Boston was not interested in signing Bogaerts to a massive deal that would have taken him into his late 30s, the calculus of his value changed during the 2022 campaign. He already had two World Series crowns, four Silver Sluggers and three All-Star selections on his resume, but he turned in one of the best years of his career ahead of free agency.

Bogaerts slashed .307/.377/.456 with 15 home runs and 73 RBI while posting five defensive runs saved above average with his glove, per FanGraphs.

His 5.8 wins above replacement total was second only to the 6.3 he posted in 2019, per Baseball Reference. He was a bright spot for a Red Sox team that otherwise sputtered on the way to a last-place finish in the American League East at 78-84.

Boston was one of the most disappointing teams in MLB after reaching the American League Championship Series the prior year.

Now Bogaerts joins a Padres team that already featured Juan Soto and Manny Machado and will get the suspended Fernando Tatís Jr. back during the season. The Padres are in World-Series-or-bust mode after reaching last season's National League Championship Series and made a splash with the addition of Bogaerts.

He may be extra motivated after feeling spurned by Boston.

Free-agent third baseman Justin Turner has agreed to a deal with the Boston Red Sox, per ESPN's Joon Lee and Jeff Passan.

Justin Turner's deal with the Boston Red Sox is for two years and just shy of $22 million, and it includes an opt-out after the first season, sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/9kAFqqX6ay

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 18, 2022

The 38-year-old is a two-time All-Star who has played 14 MLB seasons. His last nine have been with the Los Angeles Dodgers, which have won three National League pennants and one World Series with him at the hot corner.

Last year, Turner hit .278 (.788 OPS) with 13 home runs and 81 RBI. He has struck a career-high 27 home runs on three different occasions, including the 2021 season.

The Long Beach, California, native started his career with the Baltimore Orioles before the New York Mets claimed him off waivers in 2010. He primarily played second base for the Mets in 2011 before moving to a utility role in 2012.

Turner was in and out of the lineup for his three years in New York before he left in free agency for the Dodgers in 2014.

He immediately blossomed for L.A., hitting a career-high .340 in 2014 after entering the lineup because of injuries to Hanley Ramírez and Juan Uribe. He became a full-time fixture at third base in 2015 and stayed there throughout his Dodgers tenure. He finished in the top 15 in the NL MVP voting from 2016 to 2018 and earned his first All-Star honor in 2017.

Turner hit .296 (.865 OPS) with 156 home runs and 574 RBI while in L.A.

He received plenty of interest this offseason, with Jon Heyman of the New York Post reporting that the Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks and Miami Marlins were among a half dozen teams interested in Turner.

His Dodgers career is now over, though, as Turner turns to a new chapter.

After the Boston Red Sox lost Xander Bogaerts to the San Diego Padres in free agency, signing third baseman Rafael Devers to a contract extension has become the team's "No. 1 priority," per Jon Heyman of the New York Post.

Additionally, one baseball executive believes the Red Sox have to give Devers "whatever he wants" because they can't afford to lose him when he becomes an unrestricted free agent after next season.

Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said in a text message to Heyman that the club's efforts to retain Devers "are only intensifying" and getting him locked up is "something we've really wanted to do for a while and hopefully we'll be able to find that path."

Bogaerts signed an 11-year, $280 million deal with the Padres after being low-balled by the Red Sox, and Boston will likely need to pay Devers at least the $300 million he is asking to get him to stay in town beyond the 2023 campaign.

In July, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reported that the Red Sox "identified Matt Olson's eight-year, $168 million extension with Atlanta as a basis for discussions" with Devers, which seems laughable after the spending spree teams went on in this winter's market.

However, sports analyst Marino Pepén (h/t MLB insider Héctor Gómez) reported in November that the Red Sox have been inching closer to Devers' $300 million asking price, with the difference in conversations being around $50 million.

With all of the talent that has departed Boston since 2018, keeping Devers around should be more than a priority for the Red Sox.

The 26-year-old earned his second straight All-Star Game selection in 2022 after slashing .295/.358/.521 with 27 home runs and 88 RBI in 141 games. He won a Silver Slugger award in 2021 and helped the Red Sox capture the World Series title in 2018.

In 689 games across six seasons, Devers is hitting .283/.342/.512 with 139 home runs and 455 RBI. Considering his youth, he has the potential to be a Boston great.

Xander Bogaerts is no longer on the Boston Red Sox after he joined the San Diego Padres this offseason, and the American League East team is reportedly interested in a high-profile replacement.

According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, Boston is "seriously considering star free agent Dansby Swanson." The Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers are also listed as suitors, as are the Atlanta Braves, the team with which he's spent his entire seven-year major league career.

It has been quite the offseason for shortstops, as Bogaerts agreed to an 11-year, $280 million contract with the Padres, Trea Turner reached an 11-year, $300 million agreement with the Philadelphia Phillies and Carlos Correa topped them all with the richest contract for a shortstop in history at 13 years and $350 million with the San Francisco Giants.

Those deals, along with the fact that there are multiple suitors, puts Swanson in quite the negotiating position.

So did his 2022 campaign, as he was an All-Star and Gold Glove winner while slashing .277/.329/.447 with 25 home runs, 96 RBI and 18 stolen bases for the Atlanta Braves. He is also theoretically in the middle of his prime at 28 years old.

From Boston's perspective, signing Swanson would help mitigate the loss of Bogaerts and allow it to keep Trevor Story at second base. Its defense would benefit from having a glove like Swanson's up the middle.

The Vanderbilt product doesn't have the same track record that Turner, Correa and Bogaerts do and will likely land a smaller contract as a result, but he is still in a position to be paid generously.

The Red Sox could be desperate for some good news as well considering they missed the playoffs at 78-84 last season and have now lost two franchise cornerstones in recent years in Mookie Betts and Bogaerts.

Adding Swanson would at least help them move in the other direction as they look to compete in a difficult American League East that features a number of realistic playoff contenders.