Business casts a shadow on Friday's Red Sox home opener
BOSTON — The only clouds at Fenway Park on this glorious afternoon involved the immediate futures of two Red Sox cornerstones.
The contract drama surrounding Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers officially came home on Friday. Boston hasn’t found a way to secure commitments from the left side of its infield for the long term.
Bogaerts can opt-out of his six-year deal at the end of the season. Devers will be a free agent at the close of the 2023 campaign. Various reports over the last week described the Red Sox and two of their young stars as far from reaching agreements.
“We want these guys as a part of the Red Sox organization forever,” Red Sox president and CEO Sam Kennedy told NESN in a pregame interview. “We’ll pick up those conversations as we go forward on a timetable that’s acceptable to the players.”
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What’s left unsaid, of course, is that Boston is only content to pay a certain price. It’s entirely an organizational decision. The Red Sox have virtually unlimited financial resources and could make commitments to just about any players they choose.
Which makes some reporting by the New York Post and Boston Globe rather disturbing. Bogaerts has three years and $60 million remaining on the deal he reached prior to the 2019 season — Boston offered to add one year and $30 million, which would take him through the 2026 season. Bogaerts wouldn’t confirm or deny what took place prior to Friday’s game, but his answer — and the public statements made by his agent, Scott Boras — suggested the de facto Red Sox captain was disappointed.
“Yes, I saw it,” Bogaerts said. “You’ve got to talk to my agent about that. I don’t want to get into it.”
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Bogaerts gave the Red Sox a discount last time, and Boras looked like he’d swallowed a drop or two of vinegar during a formal press conference at RingCentral Coliseum. The shortstop market has exploded in the last three years, with players like Fernando Tatis Jr., Francisco Lindor and Corey Seager all inking pacts of more than $300 million. Twins shortstop Carlos Correa opted for a shorter term, leaving the Astros for three years and $105.3 million.
“He’ll change organizations,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of Correa, a fellow Puerto Rico native. “He has that aura. He has that vibe. I’m very proud of him — I always will be. I’m glad that he got his contract.”
If only Cora was speaking about Bogaerts. And he could say much the same about Devers, who — according to ESPN — received an offer just north of $200 million. That’s shy of the neighborhood occupied by Manny Machado, Anthony Rendon and Nolan Arenado. All three players agreed to deals that pay at least $30 million annually. Devers should be in line for something similar as a 25-year-old October hero with one of the most potent young bats in the game.
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“The door is open,” Red Sox chairman Tom Werner said. “We made a deal with Dustin Pedroia during the season. That doesn’t mean we’ll be successful, but we’ll keep trying. We want both Xander and Raffy to be with us.”
The sentiments expressed by Kennedy and Werner — and from chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom — all sound familiar. Boston said much the same prior to trading Mookie Betts after the 2019 season, and the return from that deal — Alex Verdugo, a struggling Jeter Downs and a projected backup catcher in Connor Wong — doesn't inspire much confidence. The Dodgers immediately broke a 32-year World Series drought in 2020 while the Red Sox opened this season with Jackie Bradley Jr. and Christian Arroyo platooning in right field.
If Boston is so worried about potential defensive declines from Bogaerts and Devers, how do you explain its choices at other positions? Arroyo has never played the outfield before and looked out of place in a Tuesday game at Detroit. Bobby Dalbec is a converted third baseman who is only average at first, and Kyle Schwarber — last year’s headlining acquisition at the trade deadline — had never lined up in the infield.
The answer comes down to investment. The Red Sox seem perfectly willing to accept deeper flaws if your number against the Competitive Balance Tax — or how you're perceived in their organizational depth chart — doesn’t amount to much. Boston looks less likely to live with even minor ones if the outlay is something it deems too steep.
This sun-splashed day, one that carried with it the best of spring in New England, had something looming in the background. The specter of big business couldn’t completely spoil the occasion, but it’s now officially in the building.
bkoch@providencejournal.com
On Twitter: @BillKoch25
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Boston Red Sox play the Minnesota Twins in home opener at Fenway Park
