Xander Bogaerts

[Eye Black]

There has been increasing buzz this week that with Chaim Bloom coming in to steer the Red Sox baseball operations department the team is going to focus on shedding payroll. One way to accomplish that feat, as has been rumored, would be to trade shortstop Xander Bogaerts who is entering his age-27 season next year. He is under contract through 2025 (but is able to opt out after 2022), with a vesting option for 2026. His contract signed last March pays him exactly $20 million per season through the life of the contract.

 

 

 

If Bogaerts is indeed attainable via trade would you be okay with the Brewers making the following offer:

 

 

 

Here is a more detailed look at the salaries, years of service, and projected surplus values (including low/high ends):

 

 

 

What do you think, if he is available via trade do the Brewers have enough to entice the Red Sox?

[adambr2]

I love Bogaerts and the idea of having him controlled through 2025 is highly appealing, reminds me of the Yelich deal.

 

Unfortunately, Boegarts actually has an opt out after 2022, and on his current trajectory he will almost certainly exercise it. If he doesn't, it will be a situation where we wish he would. Either way, it changes the outlook of a potential deal. He's still highly attractive and controlled for 3, but I'm not sure that I want to give up 12 controlled years of Hiura and Burnes plus our top prospect for 3 years.

[Jopal78]

Bloom would probably get fired if he took such a talent light package from Milwaukee for one of the better players in the game.

 

Hiura was a rookie with nice power but doesn’t play defense at all and strikes out every third at bat. Burnes was so bad the Brewers had to reacquire Jordan Lyles to replace him then banished him to the minors, and Turang is at least 2-3 years away from the majors.

 

This trade is only plausible when viewed through the darkest of Brewers colored glasses.

[Eye Black]

I love Bogaerts and the idea of having him controlled through 2025 is highly appealing, reminds me of the Yelich deal.

 

Unfortunately, Boegarts actually has an opt out after 2022, and on his current trajectory he will almost certainly exercise it. If he doesn't, it will be a situation where we wish he would. Either way, it changes the outlook of a potential deal. He's still highly attractive and controlled for 3, but I'm not sure that I want to give up 12 controlled years of Hiura and Burnes plus our top prospect for 3 years.

I missed the opt out after 2022. It does seem very likely at this point he will exercise it in three years if he continues to play anywhere near his current level. I guess it also makes it slightly more plausible the Red Sox would be open to trading him. I edited the initial post to reflect the correction.

[Eye Black]

This trade is only plausible when viewed through the darkest of Brewers colored glasses.

I don’t think it is quite as ridiculous as you are implying. If you want to quibble with the Burnes/Turang part of the package, I completely understand (swap out for Peralta, Grisham, etc.), but I don’t think Keston Hiura as a centerpiece to a deal for Bogaerts is ridiculous at all.

 

The Red Sox project to exceed the Luxury Tax threshold for a third year in row. Every year they exceed the tax their financial penalty becomes increasingly steep. Their penalties from this past season totaled more than $13 million. It has seemingly been made clear at this point that one of Bloom’s directives is to get the team’s payroll back under control.

 

Another concept being floated by many (including Ken Rosenthal) is that the Red Sox are willing to package some of their more attractive trade chips with a bloated contract such as David Price, Nate Eovaldi, or to a lesser extent Dustin Pedroia. Their farm system is pretty barren, so in order to pull off that type of maneuver it would likely require a veteran star such as Bogaerts or Betts. Unfortunately for the Brewers that type of move seems less feasible.

[pacopete4]

I can't, for even a second, pretend that the Red Sox would want that offer from the Brewers for a player of quality such as Bogaerts. I mean, imagine if we were trading away Yelich for that mess? This place would burn itself to the ground.

[Eye Black]

I can't, for even a second, pretend that the Red Sox would want that offer from the Brewers for a player of quality such as Bogaerts. I mean, imagine if we were trading away Yelich for that mess? This place would burn itself to the ground.

Well if you believe three seasons of Bogaerts is just as valuable as the next three years of Yelich than I can understand why you would think that.

[Jopal78]

This trade is only plausible when viewed through the darkest of Brewers colored glasses.

I don’t think it is quite as ridiculous as you are implying. If you want to quibble with the Burnes/Turang part of the package, I completely understand (swap out for Peralta, Grisham, etc.), but I don’t think Keston Hiura as a centerpiece to a deal for Bogaerts is ridiculous at all.

 

The Red Sox project to exceed the Luxury Tax threshold for a third year in row. Every year they exceed the tax their financial penalty becomes increasingly steep. Their penalties from this past season totaled more than $13 million. It has seemingly been made clear at this point that one of Bloom’s directives is to get the team’s payroll back under control.

 

Another concept being floated by many (including Ken Rosenthal) is that the Red Sox are willing to package some of their more attractive trade chips with a bloated contract such as David Price, Nate Eovaldi, or to a lesser extent Dustin Pedroia. Their farm system is pretty barren, so in order to pull off that type of maneuver it would likely require a veteran star such as Bogaerts or Betts. Unfortunately for the Brewers that type of move seems less feasible.

 

The main problem with your idea I s the Red Sox aren’t going into a rebuild; and your trade doesn’t make them better in the short run it makes them substantially worse because Bogaerts is a superior player to Hiura, and a win now team doesn’t have much use for Turang or Burnes). I think you hit the nail on the head that they may Try to unload a heavier contract by including a good player but as you point out such a deal rules the Brewers out because they are a team with limited payroll