Before the 2023 season, San Diego Padres shortstop Xander Bogaerts signed a massive 11-year, $280,000,000 contract with the team in free agency. So far, it hasn’t aged well.
Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller has pointed to Bogaerts as having one of Major League Baseball’s worst contracts, comparing his to the likes of Trevor Story, who signed a six-year, $140 million contract with the Boston Red Sox in 2022.
“If the Padres were anywhere near the end of paying Xander Bogaerts around $25 million per year, his modest production wouldn’t feel as painful,” Miller said. “At any rate, Trevor Story has provided almost the exact same value with a nearly identical salary this season, but he has escaped the ‘terrible contracts’ ire with just two-and-a-half years left on his deal. But Bogaerts isn’t even a quarter of the way through his 11-year contract, and it’s already looking like the Padres bought a wildly expensive lemon.”
Prior to joining the Padres, Bogaerts spent the first 10 seasons of his career with the Red Sox, where he was one of the bright young shortstops in the game, reaching the All-Star games four times, hitting .292 with 1,410 hits, 156 home runs and a .814 OPS in that span.
However, since joining San Diego in 2023, his production has fallen off considerably. Hitting .272 with 35 home runs and a .737 OPS so far during his time with the Padres. This season, Bogaerts’ struggles are becoming more prevalent, as he is hitting just .258 with five home runs and a .702 OPS in 298 at-bats, signaling a concerning trend for the remaining eight seasons left on his contract.
On the bright side, Bogaerts may be finally starting to find his stride at the plate in recent weeks, hitting .375 with two home runs and a 1.042 OPS in his last 15 games.
