After a season of doom-and-gloom and hand-wringing, it appears the Red Sox are trying to sign both Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts to extensions. The swiftness with which they have moved to do so implies that this was always the plan, but absent a spill-the-beans piece from someone inside Fenway we’ll never know.
The broader point, though, is that this is good. Signing good players is good. Having better players helps you win games. I was listening to a football podcast last week and Danny Kelly at The Ringer referenced a study that tracked what single advantage teams across all sports can leverage to maximize their productivity, and the answer was blunt and hilarious: Play your best players.