🔴Bogaerts moving to second; Kim named Padres' shortstop🔴
0Bogaerts moving to second; Kim named Padres' shortstop
PEORIA, Ariz. -- The Padres, with their roster full of shortstops, will have a new shortstop in 2024.
Xander Bogaerts will move to second base this season, manager Mike Shildt said Friday, with Ha-Seong Kim, the reigning utility Gold Glove Award winner, flipping from second base back to short.
Bogaerts, who signed an 11-year contract with the Padres last offseason, had spent the first 11 seasons of his career playing shortstop almost exclusively in Boston and San Diego. He was solid defensively in 2023, but the Padres made the move looking to get the most value out of Kim, one of the best defensive shortstops in the sport.
"I don't want to misrepresent: Xander Bogaerts played a really good shortstop for the San Diego Padres last year and was a positive part of us," Shildt said. "But now you look at it, and you do have a guy in Kimmy that also won a Gold Glove as a utility infielder. I will never speak for Bogey. … But he recognizes Kimmy's value at shortstop and is a good teammate for that."
Kim is slated to become a free agent after the season, raising questions about San Diego's future at short. But in the short term, there's little doubt that Kim's value is highest as a shortstop, where he spent the 2022 season before Bogaerts arrival.
Shildt left open a slim possibility that he'd flip the two back to their previous positions before the season. But for now, the plan is for Bogaerts to play second base all spring and build up there. Bogaerts has never played a Major League inning at second base.
Shildt broached the subject with Bogaerts in mid-December on his trip to Aruba and praised Bogaerts for being so receptive to the idea.
"His immediate default was: 'OK, what does this look like for our team?'" Shildt said. "Clearly, rightfully, he's going to want to know what's best for him and feel comfortable about the situation. But he was very open-minded. … I've just got a lot of respect for him."
When the Padres signed Bogaerts last offseason, they assured him that he'd be their shortstop for the 2023 season. Beyond that, they left it open-ended. It was always clear that Bogaerts wouldn't finish his 11-year contract as a shortstop -- and that he was probably destined to move off the position sooner rather than later.
In the first year of that contract, Bogaerts was worth a respectable three outs above average at short. Then again, Kim was worth eight outs above average as the team's primary shortstop in 2022, and he was worth nine as a utility player in '23. Kim finished as a Gold Glove finalist at short in '22 before winning the award this offseason.
"The good news is you want as many shortstops as you can have on a baseball field in as many positions as you can have them," Shildt said.
The Padres have lived that mantra in a big way lately. The rest of their infield is comprised of one-time shortstops as well, including Jake Cronenworth at first base and Manny Machado at third. Fernando Tatis Jr., their shortstop in 2021, just won the Platinum Glove Award as a right fielder.
Regarding Cronenworth, his most valuable defensive position is second base, which led to some questions as to whether Bogaerts might move to first base or an outfield corner. Shildt downplayed that idea, noting Cronenworth's solid glove at first and the fact that the Padres didn't want to move Bogaerts away from the middle of the infield, where they feel he serves as a captain of their defense.