Red Sox, Xander Bogaerts ink six-year contract extension

Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts signed a six-year contract extension with the hometown club; the deal was officially announced by the team on Monday afternoon.

The contract begins at the end of this current season and pays Bogaerts an additional $120 million on top of the $12 million he is guaranteed in 2019. The contract runs through the end of the 2025 season, but includes a vesting option for 2026.

The shortstop will be paid an average-annual value of $20 million per season, though the club has not officially announced certain details of the deal, such as payout structure, opt-out(s), or the terms of Bogaerts' vesting option.

ESPN's Jeff Passan reported that there would be an opt-out in the deal, and would take Bogaerts out of any potential free agency equation in the 2019-2020 offseason.

Playing in his sixth full season - and seventh overall - for the Red Sox, Bogaerts has compiled a .283 career average. In that time, he's collected 266 extra-base hits, driven in 387 runs and has slugged 75 home runs.

He's also been a part of two World Series winning teams in Boston, playing in the Fall Classic in 2013 and 2018. Of the current Red Sox, only Dustin Pedroia and Brandon Workman have also played on two title-winning Boston teams - though neither were on last year's official roster for the World Series.

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A native of Aruba, Bogaerts was named to the lone All-Star Team of his career, thus far, in 2016. That season, at the age of 23, the shortstop batted just below .300 and crushed 21 homers.

Bogaerts' best year in a Red Sox uniform came a season ago when he set career-highs in doubles (45), home runs (23) and runs-batted-in (103).

This season, the 26-year-old is the fifth highest paid shortstop in the league, but he will likely take over the top spot once his new deal kicks in following the 2019 season.

Cox Media Group