Xander Bogaerts

BIOGRAPHY

Xander Bogaerts was born October 1, 1992, in Oranjestad, Aruba. He is a shortstop in the MLB.

After being signed as an amateur free agent by the Red Sox in 2009, Bogaerts made his MLB debut in 2013, appearing in 30 games between the regular season and postseason, and helping the Red Sox to the World Series championship. He became the Red Sox' starting shortstop in 2014 and was awarded the American League's Silver Slugger Award at the position in back-to-back years, 2015 and 2016, and again in 2019 and 2021. He has the most games played at the position of shortstop for the Red Sox, having set the record in 2022.

Bogaerts played for the Dutch national team in the 2011 Baseball World Cup (which the team won), the 2013 World Baseball Classic, and the 2017 World Baseball Classic.

The Red Sox and Bogaerts came to terms on a $12 million salary for the 2019 season in January. On April 1, 2019, the Red Sox announced that they signed Bogaerts to a six-year contract extension worth $132 million. On July 3, MLB announced that Bogaerts had been selected for the 2019 All-Star Game. On September 7, Bogaerts registered his 1,000th MLB career hit, in a game against the New York Yankees. Bogaerts finished the 2019 season with a .309 average, 52 doubles, 33 home runs, and 117 RBIs (second in the American League). He finished fifth in 2019 AL MVP voting. He also won his third Silver Slugger Award.

During the start-delayed 2020 season, Bogaerts was again Boston's primary shortstop. On August 2nd against the Yankees, he had 4 hits with 2 homers and 3 RBI. Bogaerts had 2 multi-steal games on September 12th vs the Rays and September 18th vs the Yankees. He finished the season with a 10 game hitting streak and 18 straight games getting on-base. Overall with the 2020 Red Sox, he batted .300 with 11 home runs, 28 RBIs, and 8 stolen bases in 56 games. Bogaerts led all A.L shortstops in home runs and RBI, and second in runs, total bases, on-base percentage, slugging, and OPS.

Xander Bogaerts is the fifth Aruban to play in MLB, following Sidney Ponson, Calvin Maduro, Gene Kingsale, and Radhames Dykhoff. In 2011, after winning the gold medal in the Baseball World Cup, Bogaerts was inducted into the Knights Order of Orange-Nassau by the Governor of Aruba. Bogaerts speaks four languages: English, Spanish, Dutch, and Papiamento, the latter two being Aruba's official languages. On February 10, 2021, the Commandeur Pieter Boer School, in San Nicolas, Aruba, changed its name and became Scol Basico Xander Bogearts.

Bogaerts returned as Boston's primary shortstop in 2021. On July 1, he was named the AL starting shortstop for the 2021 All-Star Game. Bogaerts played in a total of 144 games during the regular season for Boston, batting .295 with 23 home runs and 79 RBIs. He also appeared in 11 postseason games, batting 12-for-46 (.261) as the Red Sox advanced to the American League Championship Series. On November 11, Bogaerts was announced as the AL recipient of the Silver Slugger Award for shortstops, his fourth time winning the award.

In 2022, Bogaerts again served as the primary shortstop for the Red Sox. On July 10, he was named to the AL roster for the 2022 All-Star Game as a reserve selection. On September 6, he was named AL Player of the Week after batting 15-for-31 in seven games. For the season, Bogaerts batted .307 with 15 home runs and 73 RBIs in 150 games. He was again nominated for a Gold Glove Award, the All-MLB Team, and won a Silver Slugger Award, his fifth.

On November 7, 2022, Bogaerts opted out of his Red Sox contract and became a free agent. He would go on to sign an 11-year $280 million contract with the San Diego Padres.