Padres moving Xander Bogaerts off shortstop an admission of $280M mistake

PEORIA, Ariz. — An inauspicious start to last winter’s nine-figure free-agent shortstop splurge included one player who suffered through an abysmal first half before hitting his stride and another who graded out as the 17th best player at his position by FanGraphs’ version of wins above replacement. 

But Trea Turner and Carlos Correa are at least still manning their positions. 

The same cannot be said for Xander Bogaerts, who will be moving to second base just one year after the Padres gave him the ninth-most expensive free-agent contract in baseball history. 

Bogaerts knew when he signed his 11-year, $280 million deal last December that he likely wouldn’t stay at the premium position throughout the entirety of the contract. But “we got to today fast,” Bogaerts said Friday afternoon, hours after manager Mike Shildt had informed him of the Padres’ intentions. 

To his credit, Bogaerts took the decision in stride, saying all the right things in the aftermath of the news: that he is at peace with the move, that he wants to do what will help San Diego win, that he respects the defense of Ha-Seong Kim, who will be moving back to shortstop coming off a Gold Glove season as a utility player. 

But Bogaerts’ tact and agreeable nature will not make his contract, now no longer at a premium position, any easier to accept, handle or work around as the Padres pick up the pieces from a disappointing third-place finish while scaling back from the spending that brought so much hope to San Diego just one year ago. 

The Padres scoffed at questions of sustainability last offseason, as they handed out nine-figure deals to Bogaerts, Yu Darvish and Manny Machado, whose $350 million commitment was the fourth-largest guarantee in league history. Machado hoped Juan Soto would be next. With the Padres suddenly sporting the third-highest payroll in the sport, it didn’t seem entirely out of the question. 

Coming off their first trip to the NLCS since they went to the World Series in 1998, they had thrown caution to the wind after toppling the mighty Dodgers in the playoffs. The city was buzzing. Season-ticket sales had to be capped. The Padres wanted to capitalize. It was all about winning in 2023.

But they didn’t, and any costs they hoped to offset by making the playoffs never came to fruition. Eventually, the bill came due. 

Despite drawing the second-most fans in the sport last season, the Padres took out a $50 million loan in September to help cover payroll costs and began plans to get their payroll down from around $255 million in 2023 to $200 million in 2024, according to a report by the Athletic. 

The Pads’ all-in experiment lasted one year as they dealt Soto to the Yankees in a cost-cutting effort that brought into question their bold roster moves. 

In 2021, the Padres signed Fernando Tatís Jr. to a 14-year, $340 million extension. When he was suspended a year later, Kim shifted over to the spot admirably, establishing himself as one of the sport’s better defenders at the position. Add on Jake Cronenworth’s utility abilities, and the Padres already had more shortstops than necessary. 

And yet, one year after envisioning Tatís as their shortstop of the future, they committed to a new one. 

Seeking another impact bat after missing out on Turner and Aaron Judge in free agency, they splurged for Bogaerts, who was more sufficient than superb in his first year in San Diego. Bogaerts graded out average defensively while hitting 20% better than league average in 2023. 

The accompanying moves worked out better. 

Tatís won a Gold Glove award in his first year in right field. By outs above average, he was the best defensive player at his position in the sport. Kim, meanwhile, spent most of his time at second base in a Gold Glove season. He accumulated 5.8 wins above replacement, according to Baseball Reference — 1.4 more than Bogaerts, who will make three times as much money as Kim at a less impactful position in 2024. 

The only second basemen who will make more money than Bogaerts next season are José Altuve, who just produced an OPS over .900 in both the 2023 regular season and postseason; Mookie Betts, who finished second in NL MVP voting; and Marcus Semien, who just helped the Texas Rangers to their franchise’s first championship. 

A couple of months ago, Schildt broached the idea with Bogaerts again while they enjoyed a meal together in Aruba. Bogaerts quipped that he thought taking Schildt to the Old Conucu House for some “local food” would help him change the subject, but the evasion tactics could last only so long. The more he thought about it, the more comfortable he became. 

On Friday, about 15 seconds into his discussion with Shildt on Friday, Bogaerts agreed to the switch to second base.

“I feel like I’m at peace with moving off because I felt like if I literally didn’t really want to I would have just let them know and it would have been … I wouldn’t say a problem, but it might have been a tough situation,” Bogaerts said. “But I think I’m really at peace that I have to move off. I think deep down in my heart, I was actually cool with it. I didn’t expect, maybe, to be cool with it, but what more can I accomplish in this game? The only reason I came here was to win a World Series.”

Bogaerts’ next championship title would be his third. He won his first in his rookie year with the Red Sox, primarily playing third base in a limited role during Boston’s 2013 run. By the time he won his second in 2018, he had cemented himself as Boston’s shortstop and one of game’s elite hitters at the premium position. A year later, Boston inked him to a six-year, $120 million extension, which included an opt-out after the 2022 season that Bogaerts exercised. 

A Padres team in search of their first championship was willing to give him nearly twice as many years and more than twice as much money as his previous extension, despite their breadth of shortstops already on hand. Soon, that count is likely to dwindle. Kim, who has a mutual option for 2025, will likely become a free agent next year. 

And another decision at shortstop will loom in San Diego. 

Rowan Kavner covers the Dodgers and MLB as a whole for FOX Sports. He previously was the Dodgers’ editor of digital and print publications. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner. 

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