By losing Xander Bogaerts to the San Diego Padres, the Red Sox not only saw a star quit, they also gave Rafael Devers bargaining power.
After all, clearly the third baseman knows the Sox can’t afford to miss him in the next year.
Devers knows the Sox have to pull out the checkbook in order to pay him at market prices. After all, with Trea Turner getting $300M, Carlos Correa getting $350M, Bogaerts signing for $280M, and Aaron Judge taking $360M, elite players can ask for money. silver.
If the Sox had made a real offer to Devers before, the club might not be there, but hey.
All that to say that the pressure is really strong on the Red Sox and they understand the issue. Why? Because the club’s top priority right now is to sign Devers.
The club would have taken the next step to make it happen.
What’s interesting is that making it the club’s priority doesn’t improve training (given that Devers is already there and that the club has other targets) for 2023, but it is necessary to do so.
It’s the right thing to do and it’s probably what the club never really did with Bogaerts.
If you ask me, until the Sox file an offer that starts with the number three, I don’t see Devers signing.
But like I said, the Sox have no choice. I expect Devers to sign in Boston by the end of the offseason on one of the biggest deals in MLB.
