Padres Officially Snag Xander Bogaerts On Long-Term Deal Worth $280 Million

The San Diego Padres were mentioned as the surprise team interested in All-Star shortstop Xander Bogaerts, and the team turned it into a reality by officially signing the 30-year-old player.

According to sources cited by Jeff Passan of ESPN, the Padres and Bogaerts came to terms and agreed to an 11-year deal worth $280 million.

The deal also formally ended the tenure of the two-time World Series champion with the Boston Red Sox, the only team he has played for since joining the league in 2013.

It would be recalled that Bogaerts hit the open market after opting out of the final three years of his six-year, $120 million contract extension with the Red Sox that he signed in 2019.

He also rejected a qualifying offer by Boston, something that included a draft pick compensation to his signing.

According to Alex Speier of the Boston Globe, the Red Sox tried their best to keep the four-time All-Star in the fold.

However, Boston failed to break the $200 million mark with their final pitch.

This was apparently because the Red Sox were hesitant to commit massive money to players, but the same cannot be said for the Padres.

Their aggressive spending started in 2019 when they signed Manny Machado to a 10-year, $300 million contract.

Aside from that, they also made a huge investment in Fernando Tatis Jr., handing him a 14-year, $340 million contract extension.

Just last year, they took in Juan Soto in exchange for Luke Voit along with five prospects.

Hence, the Padres now have a total of four big MLB players, potentially something that can provide them a big boost moving forward.

The team last reached the NLCS in 1998.

Although Bogaerts is a big fish, questions are up in the air on how well the five-time Silver Slugger Award winner will fit in.

The team already has a starting shortstop in Ha-Seong Kim and Tatis, but the Padres could adjust and move some players to fill other positions.