Coolbaugh: On weekend of Xander Bogaerts’ return, a reminder that Red Sox got it right — and wrong — on Bogey

Xander Bogaerts’ status as a Boston Red Sox lifer should never have been in doubt. 

Instead, it’s woulda, coulda, shoulda…

As Bogaerts makes his return to Fenway Park this weekend for the first time since the Red Sox opted not to re-sign one of the anchors of their 2018 World Series-winning team, we’re reminded of what would have, could have and should have been. 

Bogey, who never wanted to leave in the first place, never should have been allowed to leave. 

“I came in a different (entrance). I’m used to coming in on the Red Sox side, but now it’s the visiting side,” Bogaerts, now a member of the San Diego Padres, said in the dugout before Friday’s series opener. “Everything’s kinda new for me now being on the other side, you know, so it was different.” 

Unsurprisingly, there was no ill-will on display by the ever-classy Bogaerts. Bogaerts was seen hugging Red Sox president Sam Kennedy in the visiting dugout before the game — the same Sam Kennedy who played a role in showing him the door two seasons earlier — and spent time signing autographs for fans.

The Red Sox’s multimedia team did their part, putting together a quality tribute video — set, of course, to Bogaets’ walk-up song “X Gon’ Give It To Ya” by the legendary DMX — that played after the first inning and gave way to a standing ovation from the Fenway faithful.

Bogaerts' smile — a smile that reminds you of another jovial Red Sox icon, David Ortiz — hung from ear to ear as he popped out of the dugout and tipped his cap to a fanbase that will forever hold him in the utmost reverence.

Fans weren’t the only ones cheering, either. Rafael Devers couldn’t help but clap for his longtime infield partner during the tribute. Alex Cora is also among those glad to see his former shortstop back where he belongs. 

“He’s a special kid,” Cora said before the game. “The way he handles himself, the way he goes about his business is up there with the best of them. I know he cares about the Red Sox. … Hopefully, today people acknowledge that and give him a big standing ovation because of what he did here since 2013 all the way to ’22.”

It’s clear that Bogaerts’ absence is and always will be missed among those in Red Sox Nation.

But when push came to shove, the Red Sox ultimately got it right on Bogaerts — after getting it wrong. And it’s the latter that shouldn’t be forgotten.  

Much as we all hate to acknowledge it, the Chaim Bloom-led front office’s decision not to re-sign Bogaerts worked out in the long run. 

Bogaerts, who signed a massive 11-year contract worth $280 million to leave Boston for San Diego after the 2022 season, has already shown signs of slowing down not even two full years into the deal.

The Padres moved him from shortstop to second base last offseason with the arrival of Ha-Seong Kim, and he only logged 47 games this season before landing on the injured list with a fractured shoulder. 

In the games Bogaerts did play this season, he’s slashing just .219/.265/.316 with four homers and 14 RBIs.  

Bogaerts recently started taking batting practice again, and while he had initially hoped he could return to the field in time for this weekend’s series, he ultimately acknowledged he had “no chance” to play in his Fenway homecoming.

“That does suck, you know, because it’s one that you had marked on your calendar, you know, to look forward to,” Bogaerts said. “I was hoping maybe I’d be available … It does suck, but at least I’m here.”

Even just listening to Bogaerts speak again in the dugout, I’m reminded of how much he’s grown. My first full season on the beat was in 2015, which was Bogaerts’ third year and second full season with the Red Sox. I remember being in scrums interviewing a young Bogaerts who came across as reserved and unsure of himself. Today, he is a fully grown man who is comfortable in his own skin and commands a room — or dugout — like a champion. 

While Bloom and the Red Sox may have been “right” not to give Bogaerts a deal similar to the monster haul he got from the Padres, that’s only telling half of the story.

The other half, of course, is that the Red Sox did not negotiate with him in good faith in the last couple of years leading up to his departure, when a respectable offer almost certainly would have kept him in a Sox uniform for the long run.

Yet instead of giving Bogaerts a respectable offer, they gave him “a slap in the face” — in the purported words of his friends — by offering him a deal worth only $90 million over four years during spring training in 2022.

At one point during 2022, further reporting indicated that Bogaerts and the Red Sox were more than $100 million apart in their negotiations.

Now that doesn’t sound like John Henry at all, does it?

Had the Red Sox simply treated one of their best players — and one of the best shortstops in franchise history, to boot — with a modicum of respect, then this weekend series against the Padres wouldn’t be particularly relevant. 

Instead, it serves as a reminder of the Red Sox’s new demoralizing, cost-effective modus operandi. 

Boston may not be missing Bogaerts’ production very much on the field right now, and with Marcelo Mayer waiting in the wings, it was ultimately an understandable baseball move to move on from Bogaerts.

(And then there was  the whole “hey, we totally aren’t getting Trevor Story to replace Bogaerts” crap spewed by the team. Well, here we are two years later, and… wouldn’t you know it, that’s exactly what they did. And while I certainly would never wish injury upon anyone, there’s an irony in the fact that Story isn’t on the field this weekend, either). 

But from leadership standpoint, the Sox are absolutely missing Bogaerts. Just this week, Cora was talking on the radio about Devers’ leadership by example, but pointing out that he wanted a guy like Jarren Duran, who had been through the ups and downs in Boston, taking the mantle as a clubhouse leader.

Well, Bogey certainly had been through the highs and the lows during his Red Sox tenure. He was part of last-place teams, and he was at the center of a franchise-record championship team. How valuable would his words of wisdom been for the young guys still finding their way on this Red Sox roster? 

It’s all a reminder that sometimes you aren’t just paying for on-field production. Sometimes you’re paying for the intangibles like leadership and pedigree. 

But that’s just not the way Henry’s asset does business anymore…

Gethin Coolbaugh is a columnist for Boston Sports Journal. Follow him @GethinCoolbaugh on X/Twitter.