The Padres and shortstop Xander Bogaerts have agreed to an 11-year contract worth $280 million, a source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand.
The club has not confirmed the deal, which does not have opt-outs and includes no-trade protection, according to MLB.com’s Jon Morosi.
The starting shortstop for the Red Sox for the past nine seasons, it didn’t take long for Bogaerts to emerge into an elite player at his position.
In 2015 — his second full season — Bogaerts won the first of his five Silver Slugger Awards, given to the best offensive player in the league at each position.
A year later, he made his first of four All-Star appearances.
Perhaps the most impressive thing about Bogaerts has been his consistency. In fact, Red Sox manager Alex Cora often referred to him as the most consistent person and player in the entire organization.
The Red Sox signed Bogaerts as an international free agent out of Aruba on Aug. 23, 2009, when he was 16 years old.
In August 2013, he was promoted to Boston in the middle of a pennant race and had some key moments that October, as the club won the World Series.
With Stephen Drew entrenched as the team’s starting shortstop at that time, Bogaerts was inserted into the lineup at third base in the middle of the postseason. He came up with important hits for the Red Sox in the American League Championship Series against the Tigers and in the World Series, which Boston won in six games, against the Cardinals.
In 2018, Bogaerts won his second World Series ring, this time as one of the team’s cornerstone players.
When Bogaerts signed a six-year, $120 million contract extension with the Red Sox early in the 2019 season, it seemed like he would be staying in Boston for the long term.
However, that contract included an opt-out after the third year, which Bogaerts exercised two days after the Astros won the 2022 World Series.
Two things happened since 2019 that made the opt-out a no-brainer for Bogaerts. The first is that he steadily elevated his game, particularly offensively, after signing that contract. The second is other elite shortstops, including Francisco Lindor and Corey Seager, signed deals that greatly exceeded the $20 million average annual value Bogaerts got in his deal.
When the Red Sox signed Trevor Story to a six-year, $140 million contract back in March, many looked at the move as an insurance policy in the event Bogaerts left Boston as a free agent.
Typifying the type of teammate Bogaerts is, he helped convince Story to sign with Boston. Story moved over to second base, where he quickly turned into a stud defender at a new position.
Meanwhile, Bogaerts turned in one of the best defensive seasons of his career, being named as one of three AL finalists for the Gold Glove. This was noteworthy because the Red Sox asked Bogaerts to make adjustments to improve his range at shortstop after the ’21 season. Bogaerts displayed his strong work ethic by doing so.
In 1,264 regular-season games, Bogaerts has a line of .292/.356/.458 with 1,410 hits, 308 doubles, 15 triples, 156 homers and 683 RBIs.
In 150 games this past season, Bogaerts hit .307 with 15 homers and an .833 OPS.
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