The Padres don’t have a clean escape hatch with Xander Bogaerts, and that’s the problem.
Bleacher Report recently listed Bogaerts among baseball’s most untradeable contracts, and the label fits for a reason. San Diego isn’t staring at a simple “move him now” situation. It’s looking at a deal that gets tougher to deal with every year, with seven years and roughly $175 million still left on the contract, which runs through 2033.
Bogaerts was still a real contributor in 2026. He swiped 22 bases, held down shortstop well enough to finish with positive defensive value and put up 2.2 WAR.
That’s not replacement-level filler. It’s a legitimate major leaguer.
The issue is that the Padres didn’t pay for merely solid. They paid for the version of Bogaerts who spent years punishing pitchers in Boston with a .300 average and steady middle-of-the-order production.
What they got instead was a .231/.332/.344 line, 13 home runs and a 90 OPS+. That kind of output doesn’t exactly send rival front offices racing to pick up the phone.
And even if a trade were on the table, the mechanics are brutal. Bogaerts has a full no-trade clause, and any club that might consider taking him would need a real incentive.
That likely means the Padres eating a huge chunk of the money, including a prospect, or both. That’s not a fix.
That’s San Diego paying someone else to take on a mess it created.
So the conversation has to shift. Bogaerts can’t be treated like a movable piece anymore.
The Padres need him to become part of the solution, whether that means moving him back to second base or using him across the infield to create room for another impact bat. However they sort it out, they can’t keep building around the player they believed they were signing in 2022.
The financial squeeze only gets tighter from here. Manny Machado’s salary rises to roughly $39 million annually beginning in 2027, while Bogaerts is set to make about $25.5 million a year through 2033.
That means the two of them will combine to take up about $64.5 million per season from 2027 onward. Machado is still a franchise cornerstone and has earned plenty of leeway.
Bogaerts is the contract that could make an already expensive roster feel cramped.
Even so, the Padres still have a real shot. Fernando Tatis Jr., Machado, Jackson Merrill and the rest of the core give them enough talent to stay in the October mix for years.
That’s exactly why Bogaerts matters so much. San Diego can’t let one unwieldy contract steer every decision around a team good enough to contend.
They’re stuck with it, and the only move left is to keep building around it.
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For the Padres, the question is no longer whether France can help, but whether they can keep him around after he proved his value. There is mutual interest in a reunion, and France has said he is open to hearing offers while understanding the business side of the sport and the freedom that comes with it. That leaves San Diego weighing a familiar player against a market that may be ready to push him in a new direction. [Read more 🡒]
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Now the market is part of the equation, and it may not be a quiet one. There is speculation the Cubs could get involved, though no official offers have been confirmed, which leaves San Diego weighing both value and urgency before the bidding even begins. For a club that has leaned on King in meaningful spots, the decision is no longer just about what he did in October, but whether that kind of production is worth the price of keeping him around. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Rotation Search Comes With One Risk They Cant Ignore
The Braves are heading into the offseason with a familiar need, and this one is hard to miss: rotation help. Injuries and free agency departures have left Atlanta looking for pitching depth, and Gabriel Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported the club has previously shown interest in free agents Nick Pivetta and Casey Mize as it weighs its options.
Both pitchers fit the kind of short-term, bounce-back profile teams often circle in November, but there is obvious hesitation baked into the conversation. Atlanta has reason to be cautious given the injury histories and uneven recent performance attached to each arm, which makes the search as much about avoiding another gamble as it is about finding upside. [Read more 🡒]