From all indications, the market for free agent shortstop Xander Bogaerts will be a robust one.

And as many expected, it will include an old friend of the franchise, as Dave Dombrowski’s Phillies enter the offseason with a ‘real’ interest in Bogaerts, according to the latest reporting from MLB insider Jon Heyman.

The Phillies’ reported interest in Bogaerts adds ’em to a rather crowded group of teams looking to make shortstop splashes, with the Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, and Seattle Mariners among those with a publicly-stated interest in adding at that position this offseason.

Philly’s interest also comes on the heels of an improbable run to the 2022 World Series, where they ultimately fell to the Houston Astros in six games, and with Bryson Stott at shortstop for 16 games.

The 25-year-old certainly struggled in what was his first postseason run, too, with a .136 batting average and just three RBIs during his 16-game postseason run, including an 0-for-14 run in the World Series.

Bogaerts, meanwhile, is coming off a 2022 campaign that included a .307 batting average, along with 15 home runs and 73 RBIs, in 150 games for the Red Sox.

His .307 was the third-best single-season average of his career, and it was his third time hitting at least .300 in the last four seasons, and his .377 on-base percentage was the second-best mark of his entire career, trailing only a .384 on-base percentage in 2019.

An All-Star for the fourth time in his career this past season, the 30-year-old Bogaerts also captured a Silver Slugger last week, and was a 2022 Gold Glove finalist.

Bogaerts, who has spent his entire career with the Red Sox, was also one of two Red Sox players extended a qualifying offer worth almost $20 million last week, joining starter Nathan Eovaldi in that respect.

And speaking with The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier following Bogaerts’ decision to opt out, Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom made it known that the team intends to make a serious push to keep Bogaerts with the only MLB team he’s ever known.

“We respect his right to exercise [the opt-out] and to explore the market,” Bloom told Speier. “We want him back and we will stay engaged with him.

“[Bogaerts is] our first choice. That’s not going to change. Part of our jobs is to explore every option to field a contending team next year and put together a really good group. We need to explore every possible way to do that, but Bogey’s our first choice.”

But it’s no secret that Dombrowski, who was fired by the Red Sox in 2019 less than one year after winning a World Series with the club, would love nothing more than to pluck a key Sox contributor away from the club.

Speaking with Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY ahead of the 2022 World Series, Dombrowski admitted that there’s still some ill will towards the Red Sox (particularly ownership) for how it all ended in Boston.

“I don’t think I was treated right,’’ Dombrowski said. “It hurt. It didn’t end the way I hoped or was handled.’’

When discussing that quote with The Boston Globe’s Dan Shaughnessy, Dombrowski revealed to that he hasn’t talked to John Henry and Red Sox ownership since the team fired him.

That wound hasn’t healed yet. And if the Red Sox are going to cheap out on one of their faces of the franchise (they might), and if the Phillies have a need at shortstop (they do), Dombrowski would just love to strike.

Holding court in Las Vegas, Scott Boras, who represents Bogaerts, made it known that the Red Sox were taking a considerable risk when it came to Bogaerts and his jump into free agency.

“When you get to those moments, I can never predict what will happen,” Boras told Peter Abraham. “All I can say is the demand — these are special players, they’re people who are Silver Slugger winners, they’ve MVP-type players, they’re leaders. They’re franchise players, and those types of things — and in certain markets, players who can play well there, that has to be understood.”

A veteran of 10 MLB seasons (all with the Red Sox), Bogaerts is a two-time World Series winner, four-time All-Star, and is a five-time Silver Slugger winner.