Red Sox GM talks Xander Bogaerts departure - "You can feel that you're making a sound baseball and business decision and still feel torn up by it"
Xander Bogaerts is now a member of the San Diego Padres. Five days after he officially left the Boston Red Sox via free agency, general manager Chaim Bloom spoke with NBC Sports Boston about the difficulty of letting the shortstop leave.
"You can feel that you're making a sound baseball and business decision and still feel torn up by it," Bloom said.
"You can feel that you're making a sound baseball and business decision and still feel torn up by it."
Chaim Bloom addresses Xander Bogaerts signing with Padres #RedSox https://t.co/mtr3zviXUy
"You can feel that you're making a sound baseball and business decision and still feel torn up by it." - Red Sox GM Chaim Bloom via @NBCSBoston
Xander Bogaerts signed an 11-year, $280 million contract with the Padres last week. The Red Sox reportedly offered the shortstop far less, just $160 million over six years after he opted out of the final season of his contract after the 2022 season.
"Well first of all, good for Xander. He earned every bit of that," Bloom said. "Everybody here has seen it and it's just part of what free agency is about. He will always, for everybody here -- and I probably have less standing to say this than people who have been here the whole time he was -- he will be nothing but loved here forever."
Bogaerts and Boston could not agree to a contract extension before the season, with MLB Insider Jon Heyman reporting last April that the two sides were $100 million apart before negotiations broke down.
Xander Bogaerts, 30, won the American League Silver Slugger Award for the fifth time in his career in 2022. He was sixth in the league with a .307 batting average. He also posted 15 home runs and 73 RBIs in 150 games.
Xander Bogaerts just the latest star to leave Boston
Xander Bogaerts is the latest homegrown talent to leave the Red Sox for greener pastures. In 2020, the team traded Mookie Betts to the Dodgers after being unable to sign him to a contract extension. Six years earlier, the Red Sox did the same with ace Jon Lester. They sent him to the Oakland A's in exchange for Yoenis Cespedes and a 2015 Draft pick.
Boston fans have reason for concern that Bogaerts' path will be the same, followed by third baseman Rafael Devers after the 2023 season. Devers, who has hit .283 with 139 home runs over six seasons with the Red Sox, is due to hit free agency next winter.