Report: Padres agree to 11-year, $280M deal with Bogaerts
The San Diego Padres finally got their man.
San Diego agreed to an 11-year, $280-million contract with four-time All-Star shortstop Xander Bogaerts, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post.
Bogaerts receives a full no-trade clause as part of the deal, a source told Jon Morosi of MLB.com. It contains no opt-out clauses.
The 11-year contract is the longest ever given to a player aged 30 or older, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
The Boston Red Sox, Bogaerts' team for the last decade, were hoping to keep the 30-year-old at Fenway Park after he opted out of his previous contract in October. They made a six-year offer of around $162 million, reports Alex Speier of the Boston Globe.
Bogaerts wanted to give the Red Sox a final chance to improve their proposal, but the gap between the bids was so large he felt like he had to take San Diego's offer, a source told the Boston Globe's Pete Abraham.
Bogaerts was at the Celtics-Suns game in Phoenix when the agreement was made.
— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) December 8, 2022
Red Sox offer, when factoring in deferrals, was worth considerably less than what the Padres presented.
When the final numbers were presented to him, there was not much choice.
There were also three or four other clubs willing to pay Bogaerts over $200 million, Abraham reports.
Bogaerts adds even more power to a dangerous Padres lineup that also includes Manny Machado, Juan Soto, and - once he returns from his suspension - Fernando Tatis Jr.
San Diego, which already has two other shortstops in Tatis and Ha-Seong Kim, will have to move some pieces around the diamond to make room for Bogaerts, who's played all but 53 of his 1,264 big-league games at shortstop. Tatis will likely move to an outfield spot, Kim can shift to second base, and Jake Cronenworth can man first.
The Padres lured Bogaerts west after spending the last few weeks chasing many of the free-agent superstars in this winter's market. They were turned down by Trea Turner, who signed a $300-million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies, and also met with Aaron Judge before he re-signed with the New York Yankees.
The Padres get one of baseball's best offensive shortstops in Bogaerts, who's a lifetime .292/.356/.457 hitter with 1,410 hits, 156 home runs, and 683 RBIs across 10 big-league seasons. He slashed .307/.377/.456 with 15 homers, 73 RBIs, and eight stolen bases over 150 games this past season.
The Aruba native leaves Boston as one of the best shortstops in Red Sox history. Over his decade in Beantown, Bogaerts helped lead the team to five playoff berths and two World Series titles, and he's one of only four players to win at least five Silver Sluggers with the franchise.
Because he rejected Boston's qualifying offer at the beginning of the winter, the Red Sox will receive a compensation pick after the fourth round of the 2023 draft. San Diego, meanwhile, will forfeit its second- and fifth-round picks, as well as $1 million in international bonus money, as a result of signing Bogaerts.
The Phillies, Minnesota Twins, and Chicago Cubs were among the other teams chasing Bogaerts this offseason.