Xander Bogaerts has agreed to a 11-year contract with the Padres, for worth $280 million. Reports are the deal includes a full no-trade clause and no opt-outs.
Bogaerts first signed with the Red Sox as a 16-year-old in 2009. He turned 30 last October and leaves Boston having played the most games at shortstop in Red Sox history (1,192). In ten seasons, he hit .292/.356/.458, for an .814 OPS and 117 OPS+, and was a member of two World Series champions: 2013 and 2018.
It's not my money, of course, but that deal is nothing I would have wanted the Red Sox to saddle themselves with. Shelling out an average of $25 million per in Bogaerts's age 38-41 years? No, thank you. According to ESPN Stats & Info, "Bogaerts' deal is the longest contract ever signed at age 30 or older."
Alex Speier (Globe) tweeted:
According to a major league source, the Red Sox were "really far" from the Padres offer – and their offers were short of $200M. Just a huge gap in where the Padres went.
Peter Abraham (Globe) added:
Bogaerts, a source said, wanted to give the Sox a last chance to improve their offer. But there was what was described as a "huge gap" between the teams and Bogaerts felt he had no choice but to choose the Padres.
Of course, he had a choice. But, hey, good for X and best of luck in San Diego.
It remains to be seen who will be our shortstop coming next April. If Trevor Story slides over from second, who will play second? The chatter will likely pivot to Carlos Correa, who is two years younger than Bogaerts and has some shared history with manager Alex Cora.
I assumed Chaim Bloom would let Bogaerts go and concentrate on inking Rafael Devers to a long-term deal. The first part of that plan was super easy. Do not fuck up the second half.
The Dodgers lost Trea Turner to the Phillies. The fans are dead set against Correa. Bogaerts was the next possibility, but I agree he is not worth what the Padres are paying.
ReplyDeleteI’m sure that Backbay Rays Chief Baseball Officer will continue to build around homegrown talent like Mookie Betts, Xander Bogarts, and Christian Vasquez.
ReplyDeleteOh well, at least we have Bobby Dalbec.
As much as I hate to see Bogaerts leave Boston -- possibly one of my favorite all-time Red Sox players -- I agree that an 11-year contract that WILL pay $25 million EVERY season is a bad deal for someone who just turned 30 in October. If we have to pay anyone long-term, I would rather do so with Devers, and I hope that the wheels are already in motion to make that happen.
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