Padres moving Xander Bogaerts to second base one year into his megadeal

BOSTON -- Former Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts is now a former Padres shortstop. Bogaerts is still going to play ball in San Diego in 2024, he just won't be in his usual spot in the infield anymore.

Just one year after signing Bogaerts to an 11-year, $280 million contract, the Padres are moving him from shortstop to second base, manager Mike Shildt announced Friday. Schildt explained that Ha-Seong Kim will now take over at short, with Bogaerts moving to the other side of the diamond.

Bogaerts has over 1,400 games of experience in the majors, but has never played at second base, other than the times that he manned the spot during a shift. He played 146 games at short for the Padres last season and committed just eight errors for a .985 fielding percentage, which was down from the 10 errors he committed in the same number of games for the Red Sox in his final season in Boston in 2022.

For his career, Bogaerts has a fielding percentage of .979 over 1,338 games at shortstop. His range and overall defense have been on the decline in recent years though, and a move to second was somewhat expected at some point during Bogaerts' massive contract with the Padres. But not many figured the 31-year-old would be moved so early into the pact.

Bogaerts was set to be the fifth-highest paid shortstop in baseball in 2024, with a $25.454 AAV, but will now be the second-highest paid second baseman in the game. The guy in front of him? Another former Red Sox player who recently moved to second base: Mookie Betts.