Xander Bogaerts Signs With Padres, 11 Years $280M

December 8, 2022

The second of the big-four shortstops is off the board as Xander Bogaerts signs with the San Diego Padres for 11 years and $280M. Jon Heyman was the first to report the signing, which sources say does not have any opt-outs. The contract is, however, coming with some no-trade protection for the highly-coveted shortstop. Carlos Correa has not signed anywhere yet, but Trea Turner went to the Philadelphia Phillies already, and now as Xander Bogaerts signs this huge contract, it is coming down to Correa and Dansby Swanson as the most notable free-agent shortstops left. As a result, those two guys are likely to get nice paydays because there are still several teams looking for a shortstop.

A Look at Bogaerts’ Stats

Standard Batting
Year	Age	Tm	G	PA	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	Awards
2013	20	BOS	18	50	44	7	11	1	5	5	13	.250	.320	.364	.684	87
2014	21	BOS	144	594	538	60	129	12	46	39	138	.240	.297	.362	.660	84
2015	22	BOS	156	654	613	84	196	7	81	32	101	.320	.355	.421	.776	107	SS
2016	23	BOS	157	719	652	115	192	21	89	58	123	.294	.356	.446	.802	111	AS,SS
2017	24	BOS	148	635	571	94	156	10	62	56	116	.273	.343	.403	.746	95
2018	25	BOS	136	580	513	72	148	23	103	55	102	.288	.360	.522	.883	135	MVP-13
2019	26	BOS	155	698	614	110	190	33	117	76	122	.309	.384	.555	.939	139	AS,MVP-5,SS
2020	27	BOS	56	225	203	36	61	11	28	21	41	.300	.364	.502	.867	128	MVP-17
2021	28	BOS	144	603	529	90	156	23	79	62	113	.295	.370	.493	.863	129	AS,MVP-12,SS
2022	29	BOS	150	631	557	84	171	15	73	57	118	.307	.377	.456	.833	131	AS,MVP-9,SS
10 Y	10 Y	10 Y	1264	5389	4834	752	1410	156	683	461	987	.292	.356	.458	.814	117
162	162	162	162	691	620	96	181	20	88	59	126	.292	.356	.458	.814	117

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/7/2022.

Bogaerts had the third-highest WAR by a shortstop in the last three seasons behind Correa and Turner, at 12.2. Correa and Turner were 14.3 and 14.2, respectively. He has also garnered MVP votes in each of the last five seasons, finishing as high as fifth.

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Padres Problems With the Hosmer Deal

It was not very long ago that the Padres finally unloaded another long contract of an aging infielder. The Padres signed first baseman Eric Hosmer to an eight-year, $144M contract heading into his age-28 season. He was a four-time Gold Glove winner, a former All-Star, and had garnered MVP votes in multiple seasons with the Kansas City Royals. He was even the American League All-Star MVP in 2016. Hosmer was also a World Champion with the Royals in 2015.

The year before he signed with San Diego, he had his best year. Hosmer slashed .318/.385/.498 with 25 homers and 94 RBI through 162 games. He won his fourth (and last) Gold Glove, his only Silver Slugger award, and he got paid. Once he signed that contract, there was a major performance drop-off. His .882 OPS sank to .720, and over the next five years, only went above .735 once. Hosmer was always shopped around at trade deadlines and off-seasons, but no one would take on that contract. Finally, the Boston Red Sox took on the final three years of that contract, along with $44M, to pay him all but the league minimum for the remaining years.

Padres Potential Problems With the Xander Bogaerts Signing

Immediately after finally unloading Hosmer’s terrible contract, they sign a much larger deal, for 11 years instead of eight, and at an average annual value of $25.454M to someone who is two years older than Hosmer was when he signed the eight-year deal. Xander Bogaerts signed as a 30-year-old. This contract will make him a Padre through his age-41 season. Bogaerts is a better player than Hosmer. He has been a below-average shortstop every year except in 2022. He played third base early in his career and many see him ending up there. Of course, there’s a Manny that is going to be there for the next six years in Manny Machado–also a converted shortstop. That is, of course, unless Machado decides to exercise his opt-out clause after the 2023 season.

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Only time will tell if this is a good contract or not. One thing is practically certain: no other team is going to take on this contract if things do not go well–just like Hosmer’s. However, Bogaerts has worked hard on his defense and turned in his best defensive year so far in ’22. He is clearly one of the top three shortstops in the game as it stands, and he is very likely to turn in several more great seasons in the near future.

Main Photo:
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Players Mentioned:

Xander Bogaerts, Carlos Correa, Trea Turner, Dansby Swanson, Eric Hosmer, Manny Machado