Rafael Devers sent sweet message to Xander Bogaerts after Silver Slugger win

For the fifth time in his career, Xander Bogaerts is a Silver Slugger award-winner.

The superstar shortstop, who is currently a free agent after a decade with the Boston Red Sox, hit .307/.377/.456 over 150 games, with 171 hits, including 38 doubles and 15 home runs. He scored 84 times, drove in 73 runs, and went 8-for-10 in stolen-base attempts.

And for him, that’s considered a down year.

Not bad, huh?

After the awards were announced, his Sox teammate, Rafael Devers, gave him a sweet shoutout on Instagram:

"“Felisidades para el mio el mejor x”(Congratulations to mine the best x”"

Rafael Devers sent sweet message to Xander Bogaerts, calling his Red Sox teammate “the best” after fifth Silver Slugger award

Bogaerts is only the fourth player in Red Sox history to win five Silver Slugger awards, joining David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, and Wade Boggs. Only five shortstops in MLB history have five or more Silver Sluggers: Bogaerts, Barry Larkin, Cal Ripken, Alex Rodriguez, and Derek Jeter.

As if the Red Sox needed another reason to bring him home.

Bogaerts has played more games at shortstop than any of his Sox predecessors. He’s hit more grand slams than any of them, too. He spent the 2022 season tying and breaking franchise records.

Devers was nominated for the award, too, but lost to Cleveland star José Ramirez. He won his first career Silver Slugger in 2021 when Bogaerts won his fourth. Since Devers’ debut in 2017, he and Bogaerts have become more like brothers than teammates. Bogaerts is a mentor and big brother to Devers, who has blossomed into a formidable superstar, in part because of his relationship with the veteran shortstop. They’ve made it clear they want to keep playing together in Boston, and it’s hard to argue with the results of their partnership: a World Series, several awards and MVP votes between them, and multiple trips to the All-Star Game.

The Sox claim they’re trying to lock Devers in long-term and bring back Bogaerts, but no one really believes them on either front. Why should they? They have an enormous amount of financial flexibility this offseason and know that both players prefer to be in Boston, yet over a month after the Sox season ended, nothing has gotten done. Bogaerts opted out last week, and Devers gave the team a hard deadline: he’ll negotiate until the end of spring training, but not in-season. He’ll be a free agent after this coming season.

Hopefully, the Sox get their act together and make sure these two aren’t representing any other team when they win their next pair of Silver Sluggers.

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