Xander Bogaerts is heading to the San Diego Padres after agreeing to a massive 11-year deal worth $280 million, and sure enough, Boston Red Sox fans are not happy with the move.
It's much more frustration towards the Red Sox, though, rather than Bogaerts leaving. It's hard to say no to the kind of money that the Padres gave him, but the question is why Boston let one of the best shortstops in the league walk away.
“The point isn't that the Red Sox didn't give Xander Bogaerts what the Padres did. That contract is insane. Good for him, though! The point is he never should've reached free agency at all. He wanted to stay. Boston blew it. A cheaper, shorter deal could've been done months ago,” Adam Kaufman of I Heart Radio said.
NBC Sports reporter John Tomase added, “So much for momentum. You let your players get to free agency, this is what happens. I do not blame the Red Sox for not matching that deal. I do blame them for effing this up royally in April. Great deal for Bogaerts, sad day for Red Sox fans.”
Meanwhile, media exec and sports analyst Bill Simmons didn't hide his disappointment, writing “Thanks for everything Xander Bogaerts! The Red Sox owners can f*** off.”
Former Red Sox center fielder Fred Lynn, for his part, shared the brutal reality Boston is facing after losing Bogaerts just a few years after trading Mookie Betts. “Bogaerts … he will be very difficult to replace. So was Betts,” he shared.
True enough, it might have been difficult for the Red Sox to offer the same amount of money to Bogaerts. But as what many have said, it shouldn't have ended that way had they locked him up earlier.
Now, the Red Sox lost a key piece that puts them a step backwards in their development as a team.
As for the Padres, they are certainly showing they are ready to spend big in order to win. After making a trade for Juan Soto in the 2022 season, they continue to add weapons that could get them over the hump.
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