It was a surprise to many when the news came out that the Red Sox had signed Xander Bogaerts to a contract extension. All winter long we heard from the president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski that once Opening Day hit all dealings would end. The blockbuster deal for Chris Sale was announced just prior to Opening Day and that seemed to be the final spending before the 2019 season.
The news broke Sunday evening that Xander Bogaerts and the Red Sox were close to finalizing a deal that would make Xander Bogaerts the first long-term shortstop in Boston since Nomar Garciaparra.