The lowdown on FA SS Xander Bogaerts

It's not a stretch to say that Xander Bogaerts is one of the best players in the long, decorated history of the Boston Red Sox. A two-time World Series champion, only four Red Sox have accrued more WAR since 2000: David Ortiz, Pedro Martinez, Dustin Pedroia and Mookie Betts.

The four-time All-Star was in the middle of a six-year, $120 million deal that he signed in April 2019. However, that pact included an opt-out clause after the 2022 season, which Bogaerts has officially exercised in order to become a free agent. The Red Sox's brass has said signing their longtime shortstop to an extension is a top priority, but many clubs will be interested in a 30-year-old middle infielder with a potent bat and improving defensive skills.

Here’s what you need to know about Bogaerts:

FAST FACTS
Birthdate: Oct. 1, 1992 (Age 30 in 2023)
Primary position: SS
Height/weight: 6-foot-2, 218 lbs.
Bats/throws: Right/right
Place of birth: Oranjestad, Aruba
School(s): Colegio Arubano (Aruba) HS
Signed: Aug. 23, 2009, by Red Sox
MLB debut: Aug. 20, 2013
Qualifying offer: Received one

THE NUMBERS
2022: .307/.377/.456 (131 OPS+), 15 HR, 5.7 WAR* in 150 G
Career: .292/.356/.458 (117 OPS+), 156 HR, 34.8 WAR in 1,264 G
*Per Baseball-Reference

STAT TO KNOW
You know what you are going to get at the plate from Bogaerts: consistently strong production. He has finished with no worse than a .285 average and a 125 OPS+ over each of the past five seasons. The only other player who can say that is Dodgers star Freddie Freeman.

QUESTION MARK
Was his 2022 power outage just a blip? Although his overall offensive numbers were solid, this year saw Bogaerts set five-year lows in home runs (15), hard-hit rate (39.5), barrel rate (6.5) and average exit velocity (88.1 mph) over a full season. Those last two numbers ranked 15th among qualified shortstops.

His defense took a big leap forward
Although Bogaerts is the Red Sox's leader in games played at shortstop, his work in the field hasn't always been pretty. He came into this year with a career Outs Above Average total of minus-40. He was at minus-55 in Defensive Runs Saved. But he seemed to become a different type of defender in 2022 as he recorded career highs in each metric -- 5 OAA and 4 DRS. Bogaerts said a new offseason workout program and a different pre-pitch routine helped him get to balls quicker.

He is a knight
That's Sir Xander Bogaerts to you.

A native of Aruba, Bogaerts is one of only six Major League players ever to hail from the small Dutch country. In 2011 -- two years before he broke into the big leagues and won his first World Series title -- Bogaerts helped the Netherlands win gold in the Baseball World Cup. As a reward, all players and coaches on that triumphant team were knighted by the country's governor.

"Yeah, it was sick," Bogaerts recalled in 2014.

He made base-hit history this year
Despite having his worst full-season marks in swinging-strike rate and contact rate, Bogaerts ranked among the top 15 qualified players with 171 hits and finished third in the AL batting title race with a .307 average. He did endure his fair share of slumps throughout the summer, but he also experienced a historic stretch in which he notched multiple knocks in nine consecutive games.

That hot streak tied a Red Sox record and has been bested by only three players during the Wild Card Era (since 1995): Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (11 games, 2018), Bernie Williams (10 games, 2002) and Chuck Knoblauch (10 games, 1996).