Red Sox Rumors: Xander Bogaerts Contract Extension Offer Viewed as 'Slap in the Face'

It would appear that Xander Bogaerts and the Boston Red Sox are far apart in contract talks. 

According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the Red Sox offered "to simply add one year to the three he has left on his deal. Sources suggest it was for about $30 million in that extra year, bringing his potential total to about $90 million."

Heyman said that left Bogaerts and the Red Sox over $100 million apart in talks, with a friend of Bogaerts saying the team's offer was a "slap in the face."

Bogaerts is a three-time All-Star, two-time champion and four-time Silver Slugger. He's hit 20 or more home runs in a season four times, batted in 100 or more runs twice, scored 100 or more runs twice and has hit .300 or better three times.

He finished the 2021 season hitting .295 with 23 homers, 79 RBI, 90 runs and a .863 OPS in 144 games.

He has a player opt-out in his deal after this season, which he'll likely exercise. If he doesn't, he would be set to make $60 million between the 2023 and 2025 seasons, with a $20 million vested option for 2026.

But the 29-year-old has seen some of the top players at the shortstop position sign massive deals in the past few years, including Francisco Lindor (10 years, $341 million), Fernando Tatis Jr. (14 years, $340 million) and Corey Seager (10 years, $325 million), among others.

And the $20 million average annual value on his current deal ranks eighth among shortstops, below his teammate Trevor Story ($23.3 million). It's easy to see why adding one season at $30 million wouldn't exactly appeal to him.

As for whether the Story signing might leave the Red Sox disinclined to also pay major money for Bogaerts—Story is currently playing second base for the team but could shift to shortstop if Bogaerts departed—the team's chief baseball officer, Chaim Bloom, denied such a stance.

"Trevor doesn’t change our desire to keep [Bogaerts and Rafael Devers]," he said. "We're hopeful we can keep both guys."

It's all becoming a familiar story in Boston, as fans watched as the team traded superstar Mookie Betts in 2020 rather than signing him to a lucrative extension. And the team is also at a bypass with third baseman Devers in contract talks, with a source telling Heyman the team's offer and Devers' counteroffer were "like night and day."

Per that report, Devers was seeking an "ultra-long deal that would have made him a 'Red Sox for life,' while the club was thinking more like a contract for much less length—a kind of half-life deal."

Like Bogaerts, Devers and the Red Sox reportedly were about $100 million apart in talks.