Xander Bogaerts signs six-year contract extension

Folks, it is big-time happening. Late in spring training the Red Sox completed a five-year extension with Chris Sale, and now another one of the their top players scheduled to hit the open market this coming winter is going to be locked up long-term. According to Evan Drellich, the Red Sox are close to finalizing an extension with shortstop Xander Bogaerts.

The overall deal covers six years and is worth roughly $120 million starting in 2020. With the 2019 season included it’s a seven-year deal worth roughly $132 million.

There have been questions all winter about how the Red Sox were going to deal with a roster that had names like Sale, Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez and Rick Porcello, among others, set to hit the open market this winter. Now, half of those names are locked up for the long-term.

As for the overall value, it’s hard to comment too much until the terms are officially known. That being said, Bogaerts was always an absolutely fascinating case study in my opinion in terms of value, and I really didn’t think he and the Red Sox would reach a deal for that reason. He broke out in such a huge way in 2018 and it’s always hard to give huge money to a player with one great season like that. However, Bogaerts was very, very good before that and also was always projected to be the type of player he was in 2018. I felt there was a good argument for Bogaerts to bet on himself and hit free agency this winter, but apparently he didn’t agree. It seems he values his place in Boston and stability and chose that over a potentially larger payday. Either way, this is fantastic news for the Red Sox and a perfect way to forget about the series that was in Seattle.

Updates:

In terms of affecting the Red Sox and their luxury tax figure, this deal doesn’t start until next year. It is a six-year, $120 million deal with a $20 million hit on the luxury tax beginning in 2020.

The deal has a vesting option for a seventh year.

Bogaerts has a chance to opt out after the third year.

It’s official. A press conference will be held Monday in Oakland.