Multiple players from the Boston Red Sox's 2018 World Series-winning run left the team last year, including Christian Vazquez and Xander Bogaerts. The Red Sox traded Vazquez to the Houston Astros ahead of last season’s MLB trade deadline, and they watched as Bogaerts signed off on an 11-year, $280 million deal with the San Diego Padres in December.
Vazquez’s Red Sox exit was far from a surprise, but the same can not be said for Bogaerts' departure from the team. Even though he opted out of his contract in November, there was still much speculation that the four-time All-Star would eventually decide to stay put in Boston. He was in contract talks with the Red Sox, and the team’s final offer to him reportedly centered on a six-year deal worth “roughly $160 [million].”
Vazquez kept a close watch on Bogaerts’ free agency drama, and he believes that the now-former Red Sox shortstop “deserved more respect from the front office.”
“I was thinking he was coming back to finish his career there,” Vazquez said during a recent appearance on Audacy’s “The Bradfo Sho” program. “He is a big part of that organization before, but it’s a business. I don’t know, he will look weird in another uniform.
“The people don’t get the inside of what happened inside the clubhouse and all that stuff. He deserved more respect from the front office, everybody. He’s a star, I think you need to respect that. Respect what he did for the organization — he got two rings with that organization. I feel like he deserved more than that.”
Bogaerts has not yet opened up about the exact reasons behind his call to leave the Red Sox, but he did note during his introductory press conference with the Padres that this decision was a difficult one to make.
“Sometimes, it’s a little hard to turn the page, but it’s something that I have to do,” Bogaerts said. “I was very thankful and appreciative for my time with the other team, the Red Sox, and I met a lot of people that helped me out throughout the way and become the player I am today.”
Bogaerts posted an OPS+ of 117 in his 10-season run in Boston.
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