When news broke on social media late Wednesday night that the San Diego Padres had signed 30-year-old shortstop/third baseman Xander Bogaerts to an 11-year/$280 million contract, there were undoubtedly a lot of raised eyebrows … not just among smiling Padres fans, but across the entire baseball universe.

I mean, let’s be real here. The Oranjestad, Aruba native (and Scott Boras client), who made his Major League debut with the Boston Red Sox on August 20, 2013 as a 20-year-old, will be 41 years old at the end of that near record-setting contract; this after opting out of the final three years of his contract with the Red Sox on Wednesday night – the team with whom he was a four-time All-Star and a two-time World Series Champion.

Bogaerts is coming off a remarkable 2022 season in which he slashed .307/.377/.456/.833, with 15 home runs and 73 RBIs in the 150 games he appeared in – 146 as the Red Sox shortstop and four as their designated hitter.

As Passan notes, the expectation is that Bogaerts will remain at shortstop with San Diego, with Ha-Seong Kim, who took over at the position in 2022 after Fernando Tatis Jr. fractured his left wrist during an offseason motorcycle accident in the Dominican Republic (and was later suspended by MLB for a failed PED test) moving to second base. Current Padres second baseman Jake Cronenworth would slide over to first base. Tatis would then most likely move to right field, with current Padres right fielder Juan Soto shifting over to left.

But regardless of where the Padres chips may ultimately land come Opening Day 2023, it is impossible to ignore the fact that the Dodgers second most disliked division rivals just became a significantly better team with the addition of Xander Bogaerts.

Play Ball!

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Author's Note:

Keep in mind that the annual Winter Meetings are only the first step of the offseason for teams to make additions and/or subtractions to their respective rosters. As such, there is zero doubt that Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman will make several very significant moves this offseason. He didn’t earn the reputation for being among the very best in the business by doing nothing.

Stay tuned…

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