Power ranking Dodgers’ 4 shortstop options for 2023

1. Xander Bogaerts

Should the Red Sox extend Xander Bogaerts, their homegrown, all-everything shortstop who can opt out of his deal at the end of 2022, prior to his age-30 season? Yes!

Will they? Well … they seem to ascribe to the (likely correct) theory that all position-player deals ultimately turn bad. That’s right! Sometimes, though, big-market teams have to accept some ugly-looking, end-of-contract years in order to win in the here and now. It seems very possible that the Red Sox are instead going to choose to navigate the waters without Bogaerts, move Trevor Story to shortstop, and maybe extend Rafael Devers instead. Or maybe they extend no one! Liverpool’s stadium needs a new stained-glass window, after all.

Bogaerts is being treated by Boston like he’s 34 and lagging. Instead, he’s peaking and still playing a passable shortstop. As of Thursday, June 30, he’s accrued 3.0 WAR, is triple-slashing .326/.397/.469 — that’s a 140 OPS+, higher than Turner — and he’s coming off four straight top-20 finishes in the MVP race.

Intangibles? He has them in spades, and we’ve seen them for years. Just ask Mookie Betts, the most recent Red Sox superstar who found greener pastures on the other coast, where Andrew Friedman is successfully running the big market hybrid model. In other words, he’s practicing what the Red Sox always preach until the bill’s due.

If the time comes where he officially outgrows shortstop, maybe that’s the moment he slides to second and Lux mans short. Until that time, Bogaerts would be the ideal option for the 2023 Dodgers, and he’ll be available for a little bit less money than Turner and possibly one fewer year of commitment.

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