Xander Bogaerts Signs With the Padres for 11 Years

Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images

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

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