After the Red Sox traded away superstar Mookie Betts this past offseason, is it possible the team with the worst record in the American League could part with yet another World Series-winning face of the franchise -- and soon?
Enter Xander Bogaerts. At 27 years old, the shortstop is smack in the middle of his prime and coming off a top-five finish in AL MVP voting in 2019 after hitting .309/.384/.555 with career highs in homers (33), RBIs (117) and OPS (.939).
What's more, Bogaerts signed a long-term deal in April 2019 that can keep him in Boston through 2025.
Why, then, might the Red Sox consider trading him at all? The possibility comes down to timing, as MLB Network insider Ken Rosenthal wrote in a story for The Athletic (subscription required).
Bogaerts' six-year, $120 million extension -- which pays him $20 million a year from 2020-25 with an option for '26 at the same amount -- comes with an interesting and timely caveat: full no-trade protection once he reaches seven years of service time.
The date for Bogaerts, whose big league debut came in late August of 2013, to accrue seven full seasons? Sept. 6.
In other words, if the Red Sox ever are going to take advantage of trading Bogaerts on their terms -- that is, without his approval needed -- they have to do it during this Trade Deadline window.
After the Aug. 31 Trade Deadline this year, Bogaerts gains essentially all of the leverage in the decision-making. In addition to the ability to veto a trade, he also will have the chance to opt out after 2022, per his contract, at which point he'll be entering his 30-age season.
That's an option Bogaerts "very well might pursue," Rosenthal wrote, "considering that 2021-22 free agents Francisco Lindor, Carlos Correa, Corey Seager, Javier Báez and Trevor Story already would have reset the market for shortstops."
At the time of Bogaerts' agreement with Boston, circumstances surrounding the Red Sox were entirely different than what they are now. They were riding high, fresh off a club-record 108-win regular season under beloved first-year skipper Alex Cora and their fourth championship in 15 seasons.
In the 16 months since the Bogaerts extension, however, so much has gone south for the Sox.
First came Chris Sale's ongoing arm problems in the middle of last season, which eventually led to the ace left-hander undergoing Tommy John surgery this past March that could keep him out well into next season.
Then the ownership changed course at the executive level, parting ways last September with president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and hiring Chaim Bloom as the club's chief baseball officer a month later.
That, in turn, led to arguably the most divisive and disheartening development of all for Red Sox Nation -- trading Betts, along with southpaw David Price, to the Dodgers in February in a three-team blockbuster that netted Boston a package of young players.
And don't forget about Cora being dismissed in January as part of the fallout for his role as bench coach in the Astros' sign-stealing scheme, and the Red Sox franchise being embroiled in its own sign-stealing investigation for much of last offseason.
To varying degrees, all of the above has contributed to the Red Sox's 6-18 start this season -- and the possibility of another in-his-prime star player becoming a trade chip.