Just three games remain in what could very well be the last season in a Red Sox uniform for longtime shortstop Xander Bogaerts.
The Boston Red Sox have just a single three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays left in the 2022 regular season, which means Boston fans have as little as three chances left to see longtime star shortstop Xander Bogaerts in a Red Sox uniform.
FanSided’s own Gabrielle Starr has the hookup for insanely cheap tickets (via Gametime) to attend what will undoubtedly be an emotional handful of games for each of the Red Sox front office, fans of the franchise, and Bogaerts himself.
Red Sox: Dirt cheap tickets available to see what could be Xander Bogaerts’ final game in Boston
The entire 2022 season has been filled with speculation on the future of not only Bogaerts, but fellow left side of the diamond infielder Rafael Devers. Both players are superstars and are loved in Boston but neither were given any sort of contract extension heading into the season or during the season, to the surprise of many.
While Devers is under contract for one more season, Bogaerts has an opt out in his contract that could (and likely will) see him forego the remaining three years and $60 million on his contract in favor of a trip to free agency where he could strike gold on the open market.
With the expectation being that “Bogey” will exercise the opt out, some tough times could be ahead for the city of Boston as they could lose a stud at shortstop. Since his debut in 2013, the now-30-year-old has four All-Star Game appearances under his belt, four Silver Slugger Awards and two World Series rings. He is a career .291 hitter with 155 home runs and 34.5 bWAR in 1,262 games.
While Bogaerts’ defense has on occasion been criticized, he has done everything he can to step his game up on that side of the ball and is currently the proud owner of a 1.1 dWAR per Baseball-Reference, a mark that would easily be a career-high for him.
The overall value that Bogaerts has brought to the city of Boston cannot be overstated. He is such an integral part of the well-oiled machine that is the Red Sox and it is going to be potentially be a tough day for many if he decides that the 2022 season will be his last with the Bo Sox.