Red Sox Already Preparing For Xander Bogaerts' Departure With Backup Plan
The Boston Red Sox have a very uncertain future at one of the most prominent positions in the sport, as the unofficial captain of the team heads for the open market.
One day after star shortstop Xander Bogaerts opted out of his contract -- a decision that has been a foregone conclusion for years -- the Red Sox already appear to be resorting to a backup plan.
"Should Bogaerts sign elsewhere, it seems the plan is to move Trevor Story -- who inked a six-year, $140 million contract last offseason -- back to shortstop, where he played exclusively for the first six years of his career," MLB.com's Mark Feinsand wrote.
"According to sources, the Red Sox have started reaching out to some teams regarding the availability of their second basemen, hoping to figure out Plan B in the likely event that Bogaerts leaves Boston."
While Red Sox Nation does not want to hear about the team pivoting off of Bogaerts already, this report can be boiled down to due diligence.
Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom has frequently mentioned that he is not doing his job if he's not exploring all options. That said, it is noteworthy that the team does appear content with Story moving to shortstop and investing -- likely lightly -- in the second base position.
The second baseman market is extremely underwhelming this offseason. The top WAR leader among free agents at the position is 32-year-old Jean Segura, who hit .277 with 19 extra-base hits including 10 home runs, 33 RBIs and a .723 OPS in 98 games combined with middling defense.
There's truly nobody in free agency Christian Arroyo would be incapable of beating out this winter at second base, so they'd likely be looking for depth pieces. That would be quite a stark pivot from extending Bogaerts, one of the top all-around players in the game.
If this truly is the backup plan for Bogaerts, fans should be rooting even harder than before for Boston to re-sign the 30-year-old shortstop.
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