Bogaerts on Devers: Still ‘same guy’ at heart but getting ‘better every year’

During their five years as Red Sox teammates, Xander Bogaerts wouldn’t let Rafael Devers pay for a meal.

That, like many things about their relationship, is different now.

Bogaerts is in his second season as a San Diego Padre. After the organization he’d been with since he was 16 made him an offer so low he later said it would’ve been better to receive nothing at all, he opted out of the remainder of the team-friendly extension he’d initiated in 2019 and became a free agent for the first time in his professional career. The two-time World Series champion then signed an 11-year, $280 million contract to be a Padre in early December 2022.

Almost exactly a month later, the Red Sox did for Devers what they didn’t do for his closest friend on the team: they paid him. He’s the highest-paid player ($313.5 million) with the longest contract (10 years) in franchise history.

He’s also become a leader, following in Bogaerts’ footsteps, albeit in his own way.

“Maybe the leadership torch got passed on to him a little quicker than he probably expected, but someone has to do it, you know? And I felt like he was the guy that needed to do that,” Bogaerts said this weekend, as the Red Sox and Padres played three at Fenway Park.

He isn’t surprised, though; one specific goal the young slugger had early on made Bogaerts think Devers could be a leader.

“I felt like he would’ve done a good job with it, and I think the first step with that was him trying to learn the language,” Bogaerts explained. “He was one of those guys that wanted to learn English, not like some of the guys that maybe feel it’s not that important. So I felt like he wanted to communicate with the other guys, and I felt that that was one of the biggest steps that he had to take in order to do that.”

Nor has Devers’ impressive season – he entered Sunday’s series finale leading MLB third basemen in slugging, OPS, and tied in wRC+ – shocked the man he describes as a big brother.

“I mean, nothing surprises me with him, to be honest, I’ve seen that for so long with him,” Bogaerts said. “Special talent, special kid, and just seems to get better every year. Obviously, I know a lot of talk is on his defense, but I feel like that’s maybe improving, you know? The offense with him is always steady. It’s always you know what you’re gonna get.”

Devers won’t turn 28 until the end of October, but he’s one of the older and most veteran players in a clubhouse Bogaerts barely recognizes.

“It’s a much different team,” the middle infielder said. “Very, very, very young, very different team. Very fast team. And they have a lot more talent down in the minors, I know that. So they’re only gonna get better.”

Bogaerts is proud and happy to see Devers getting better, even if it’s mostly from afar. But whenever it’s the two of them, like the good old days? “Same guy,” Bogaerts said.

So, who pays now?

“I would never,” Bogaerts said of their previous arrangement, “but I think now it’s a point where we would probably split it, ‘cuz he has, I think he has some nice amount of money. Yeah, he’s doing okay, so he can split it. He can do that now.”

Both teams had Thursday off, giving the still-fan-favorite duo extra time together.

“We had like, a cookout at his place. A lot of friends and family over, and stuff like that,” Bogaerts said with a smile. “So I guess that he paid, he paid for the meat!”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/30tGv8a