Bogaerts and Padres agree on a contract

Bogaerts, 30, who has played his entire 10-year career with the Boston Red Sox, is a four-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion. He is coming off one of his best seasons, posting a 5.8 bWAR and finishing ninth in the 2022 American League MVP voting.

Bogaerts was a free agent after opting out of a six-year, $132 million contract extension he signed with the Rex Sox prior to the 2019 season. He joined a strong free agent bullpen class that also included Trea Turner (who signed with the Phillies), Carlos Correa and Dansby Swanson.

Prior to the 2022 season, Boston offered Bogaerts a second extension, which would have added an additional year to his contract and paid him $90 million over his final four seasons. The offer was viewed in the industry as significantly below market value for a player of his stature.

In April, a Red Sox front office official told him that a good season from Bogaerts would reduce the chances that Boston could sign him.

“We’re not in the business of signing 10-year deals for a lot of money, because those contracts for the most part don’t work out well for teams,” the front office member said.

But the Red Sox changed their tune in recent months, with baseball chief Chaim Bloom publicly stating that Bogaerts was the team’s top priority in free agency this offseason.