Tomase: This Bogaerts comment just about rules out Correa to Boston originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
FORT MYERS, Fla. — Allow me to present my theory on why the Red Sox aren’t pursuing free agent shortstop Carlos Correa, based on one telling comment from incumbent Xander Bogaerts.
On Tuesday, Bogaerts was asked if the team had broached the subject of moving to second base in light of their potential interest in Correa, which has remained nothing more than a rumor. Bogaerts, as we noted earlier in the day, sounded legitimately hurt by the line of inquiry.
“Bro. I’m a shortstop, man,” he said. “That’s where I’ve played my whole career. Obviously it’s a position I take a lot of pride in. If you look at my numbers, they’ve been pretty good for these years. I like being there. That’s it.”
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A later comment caught my attention on second listen, however, and it suggests that if the Red Sox are indeed pursuing Correa, they’re not doing right by the All-Star who currently plays his position.
Asked if the Red Sox had spoken to him about a position change, Bogaerts said no.
“I haven’t heard of that,” he said. “Hopefully it stays that way. I haven’t heard anything like that.”
Given Alex Cora’s skills as a communicator and Chaim Bloom’s forthright nature, it’s hard to imagine the Red Sox would pursue Bogaerts’ replacement without at least taking his temperature on the possibility of changing positions. Springing that on a respected veteran entering his 10th season is not how either man does business.
So if we take Bogaerts at his word that team hasn’t approached him — and there’s no reason to doubt him on that count — then it’s hard to imagine they would seriously entertain the notion of signing Correa for such massive money without knowing how Bogaerts feels about it.
But there’s more! Bogaerts and Correa share an agent, the ubiquitous Scott Boras. Boras obviously knows what’s going on with both sides of this story, and if he were negotiating Correa’s move to Boston, he’d probably find a way to let his other client know, since Bogaerts would be the player most impacted by his arrival.
For his part, manager Alex Cora said he’s spoken to Bogaerts and advised him to ignore the noise.
“He was my shortstop in the World Series, he was my shortstop in the Wild Card Game,” Cora said. “I bet there’s a lot of managers out there, if you tell them who you want in a big game playing shortstop, they’ll say Xander, and I feel the same way.”
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Add it all together and there are only two possible conclusions. One is that the Red Sox are about to do Bogaerts dirty by signing his replacement three weeks before opening day and making sure he’s the last to know.
The other is that they aren’t interested in Correa and therefore needn’t worry Bogaerts about it. The rumors and speculation are what happens when there’s no baseball for 100 days and those of us in the media need storylines.
I know where I’m putting my money.