Stay or go?

Pedro thinks it would be a mistake for Bogaerts to opt out of Sox contract after 2022 season

BOSTON — Pedro Martinez doesn’t think Xander Bogaerts should opt out of his contract with the Red Sox following the 2022 season. Bogaerts signed a six-year, $120 million extension at the start of the 2019 season. At the time, it was considered a steal for the Red Sox. Now, even more so. Bogaerts has transformed himself into a franchise player, and arguably the best hitting shortstop in baseball. Yet Martinez, a Hall of Fame pitcher, believes Bogaerts should keep his home-grown roots in Boston.

“At the end of the day it’s going to be Xander who decides if he goes or stays,” Martinez said Friday ahead of his fifth annual Pedro Martinez Foundation Gala Friday at the Colonnade Hotel. “But to me, Xander is a player that probably needs to continue to have a Hall of Fame career in Boston.

Since 2019, Bogaerts’s .302 batting average ranks third among shortstops with at least 1,000 plate appearances. He ranks first in on-base percentage (.375), third in slugging percentage (.523), and third in OPS (.899). His 67 home runs rank third among shortstops in that time. Marcus Semien has 85, but he was the Blue Jays’ starting second baseman in 2021. Javy Baéz is ahead of Bogaerts by a homer but shifted to second, with Francisco Lindor at shortstop, when the Mets acquired him from the Cubs at the trade deadline in July. Trea Turner is at the top of a lot of lists, too, but played some second base for the Dodgers, with Corey Seager at shortstop, after going from Washington to Los Angeles at the deadline.

Seager is headed into free agency so Turner likely will be the Dodgers’ starting shortstop in 2022 before becoming a free agent after the season.

Fernando Tatis inked a 14-year $340 million deal with the Padres before this past season. Lindor signed a 10-year, $340 million shortly after New York acquired him from Cleveland last offseason. Bogaerts has stayed played more than Tatis (though, at 22, Tatis is a generational talent) and has performed better than Lindor. But legends are made in Boston and Martinez intimated that money aside, Bogaerts could become a beloved figure in New England.

“The years that Xander Bogaerts has played for Boston are Hall of Fame years,” Martinez said emphatically. “So we have to [make sure] Xander continues to feel comfortable, and continues to do what he has to do. Hopefully Xander will have the same love for Boston that Boston has for Xander Bogaerts.”

Both current and former players were in attendance at the gala, including former Red Sox catcher and current game planning coordinator, Jason Varitek, as well as Nationals outfielder Juan Soto.