The San Diego Padres have shocked the baseball world yet again with a player acquisition.
San Diego has agreed to terms with former Boston Red Sox star shortstop Xander Bogaerts on an 11-year contract for $280 million. The news was reported late on Wednesday night by MLB insiders such as Jon Heyman of MLB Network and Jeff Passan of ESPN.
This one is an absolute stunner.
On Tuesday, ESPN’s Buster Olney was hearing from agents that Bogaerts likely “will get something in the range of $180m-$200m when he signs, given the enormous spike in the market.”
Try $100 million more than the low end of that guess.
The contract also features a full no-trade clause, not that any other organization was going to be lining up to take that contract off the Padres’ hands anytime soon.
Just hours earlier, the Red Sox were rumored to be getting close on a deal with Bogaerts.
But the Padres swooped in with a late-night deal. The Boston offer was reportedly not close to San Diego’s.
Almost all contract projections had Bogaerts getting a contract no longer than eight years. The baseball world can’t believe the deal.
Bogaerts, 30, is a four-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion. He’s spent his entire career with the Red Sox.
In 2022, Bogaerts had a .307/.377/.456 slash line with 15 home runs. He was valued at 6.1 wins above replacement (WAR) per FanGraphs. While his batted ball data had some red flags that has had some evaluators fearing a sign of decline, his usual numbers were there. He also had his best defensive season by the metrics.
A.J. Preller and the all-in Padres have signed three players — Bogaerts, Fernando Tatís Jr., and Manny Machado — to contracts worth at least $275 million. They also made a blockbuster trade to acquire outfielder Juan Soto in August, and he could be in line for a $500 million contract eventually (his contract expires after the 2024 season).
San Diego viewed Bogaerts as “perhaps the best hitter among this free-agent class’ top shortstops,” according to Padres beat writer Dennis Lin of The Athletic. Lin notes how the Padres “outbid the competition for Bogaerts by a wide margin” after missing out on shortstop Trea Turner and Aaron Judge.
Turner signed an 11-year, $300 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday, while Judge signed a nine-year, $360 million deal to return to the New York Yankees on Wednesday.
The Padres went above and beyond to make sure they wouldn’t miss out on their next target.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.