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Bogaerts to Padres for 11 years, $280 million

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The San Diego Padres and Xander Bogaerts agreed on an 11-year, $280 million deal Wednesday night, adding the All-Star slugger to an already strong lineup.

A person familiar with the negotiations confirmed the contract to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity pending a physical examination.

The Padres already had Fernando Tatis Jr. at shortstop, but he missed the entire season with injuries and an 80-game suspension after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug.

San Diego also met with Aaron Judge and Trea Turner before the big stars decided to join other teams. The Padres reached the NL Championship Series this year before losing to the Phillies.

“From our point of view, you want to explore everything and make sure we’re looking at every possible opportunity to do better,” general manager AJ Preller said before the Bogaerts deal surfaced. “We have a real will to win and have been for a long time.”

Bogaerts, 30, was one of the headliners in a standout group of free-agent shortstops that also included Turner, Carlos Correa and Dansby Swanson.

Bogaerts, who hails from Aruba, canceled his $120 million, 6-year contract with Boston after the season. The four-time All-Star dropped $20 million in salaries over the next three years after hitting .307s in 150 games with 15 home runs and 73 RBIs.

Bogaerts is a .292 hitter with 156 homers and 683 RBIs in 10 big league seasons – all with Boston. He helped the Red Sox win the 2013 and 2018 World Series.

Bogaerts is the latest veteran hitter to leave Boston after the Red Sox sold Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers in February 2020. Rafael Devers has one more year of arbitration before he can go on the market.

Bogaerts had his best big league season of 2019, hitting .309 with a career-best 33 homers and 117 RBIs. He had 23 home runs and 103 RBIs in 2018.

In 44 postseason games, Bogaerts is a .231 hitter with five homers and 16 RBIs.

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Blum reported from Qatar.

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AP Baseball: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Ronald Blum und Jay Cohen, The Associated Press

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