Veteran Xander Bogaerts will return to the shortstop position for the San Diego Padres in 2025, manager Mike Shildt told reporters on Saturday. The announcement of the decision comes days after incumbent shortstop Ha-Seong Kim signed a free-agent contract with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Bogaerts, 32, was originally signed to be the Padres’ shortstop prior to the 2023 season, which allowed Fernando Tatis Jr. to move to the outfield. For last season, though, the Padres shifted Kim from a super-utility role to shortstop, and Bogaerts manned second base. The loss of Kim, though, means that Bogaerts will go back to the position he regularly manned for the first 10 seasons of his major-league career. Bogaerts graded out as a plus at second base last season, according to Statcast metrics. He likewise had positive marks for his work at shortstop in 2023 and in 2022, his final season with the Boston Red Sox before signing with San Diego.
The bigger concern is perhaps whether Bogaerts can arrest his seeming decline at the plate. Last season, he batted just .264/.307/.381 (92 OPS+) with 11 home runs in 111 games while playing around a major shoulder injury. Prior to the 2024 season, Bogaerts boasted a career OPS+ of 117. He’s going into the third year of an 11-year, $280 million contract with the Padres.
The Padres in 2025 will be trying to make the postseason for the fourth time in the last six seasons. That aim, however, is complicated by the reality that the Padres may be in cost-cutting mode, possibly in response to an internal power struggle among the heirs and relatives of late owner Peter Seidler.
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