A couple of weeks ago, I was working in a coffee shop. After finishing some work, I began to browse a website of a sports card shop. Previously, I used to try to purchase some packs from that shop. However, a staffer sent me an email, indicating that they had to cancel the order because they couldn’t ship those cards internationally. Nonetheless, this year, the policy has changed and there are some products that can be shipped internationally.
I decided to order some packs from that store. After receiving the package, I quickly opened it and found a Xander Bogaerts relic card from the 2022 Topps Heritage. Xander Bogaerts is one of the top shortstops in the majors and in early November, he decided to opt out of his contract with the Red Sox. Bogaerts is now a free agent and at this moment, there are also other great shortstops available.
Firstly, Carlos Correa decided to opt out of his contract with the Twins. In 2022, he played 136 games for the Twins, hitting .291/.366/.467 with 22 home runs and 64 RBI. Moreover, his OPS of .833 tied the best among MLB qualified shortstops. There’s no doubt that he can hit. However, so far in his career, there’s only one time that Correa played 150+ games in a single season. He was placed on the IL twice in the 2022 season. Correa played 8 seasons in the majors, slashing .279/.357/.479 with 155 home runs and 553 RBI in 888 games.
In addition, Dansby Swanson was selected to the All-Star game for the first time in his career. He batted .277/.329/.447 with 25 home runs and a career-high 96 RBI. Swanson played 160 games last season and didn’t miss a game this year. He had an OPS over .750 these two years. By far, Swanson played 827 games in 7 seasons, hitting .255/.321/.417 with 102 home runs and 411 RBI.
Thirdly, Trea Turner had a great season with the Dodgers and became an All-Star again. He slashed .298/.343/.466 with 21 home runs and a career-high 100 RBI in 160 games this year. Furthermore, no one can ignore his speed. Turner stole 27 bases in 2022 and by far in his career, he has 230 steals. He made it into the big leagues in 2015. Turner played 849 games from 2015 to 2022, hitting .302/.355/.487 with 124 home runs and 434 RBI.
Finally, Xander Bogaerts made his MLB debut in 2013 and it’s his 10th year with the Red Sox. By far, he has played 1264 games, hitting .292/.356/.458 with 156 home runs and 683 RBI. In 2022, he had a batting average of .307, 6th in the majors.
These 4 shortstops surely draw a lot of attention from several teams this offseason. While seeing their numbers, we know that they can contribute to the lineup. Additionally, they each won the World Series before. Among these 4 players, only Bogaerts is 30 years old. Hence, it’s certain that they could still play a few more years in the big leagues. However, there are some concerns for each team. For example, Carlos Correa normally spends some time on the IL. Swanson’s OPS is .776 this year and in his career, there are only 2 times that he finished a season with an OPS over .800.
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