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The San Diego Padres were quite active in bolstering their roster over the opening two months of the free agency period. Among the moves that they pulled off in the early stages of free agency, they won the Xander Bogaerts sweepstakes. The Padres and Bogaerts came to terms on an 11-year, $280 million deal in December that includes a full no-trade clause.
Juan Soto has played the role of a recruiter in his first offseason as a member of the Padres organization to help the team complete much-needed signings. For one, Soto, as he revealed during the Padres’ FanFest event on Saturday, touched base with the now-former Boston Red Sox shortstop and pushed to convince him to take his talents to San Diego.
“Definitely, I was trying to tell him to come over and a little bit about San Diego,” Soto said.
Soto also noted that he reached out to Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers to get to know the Padres’ new starting shortstop a bit more.
“He’s a great dude,” Soto said. “I mean, he’s a leader and I have known him since 2018 when I made it to the big leagues, so I know him a little bit. I talked with Rafael Devers about him too, and he gave me a really good search back and everything.
“I think he’s a great dude to have in the clubhouse.”
With Bogaerts now in the fold, the Padres enter the 2023 regular season as one of the favorites to win the National League. The four-time All-Star is well aware of the sky-high expectations that the Padres will have in the upcoming campaign.
“I think I’ll fit in great,” Bogaerts said during his introductory press conference with the Padres. “The more position players you have of high caliber, high talent … the better. Just as players, we put our egos at the door and compete for one goal: We’re just trying to get a championship. … This team really wants to win, and you can see how close it is.”
Bogaerts capped off his run with the Red Sox after 10 seasons, where he posted an OPS+ of 117.