Xander Bogaerts on moving to second base this season: ‘I think I’m really at peace’
The Padres are making a major change to their infield dynamic this season. Shortstop Xander Bogaerts is moving off position and will play second base, while Ha-Seong Kim will become the everyday shortstop.
“I think I’m really at peace,” Bogaerts told reporters on Friday afternoon. “I think that deep down in my heart I was actually cool with it. I didn’t expect to be cool with it. But what more can I accomplish in this game? You know, the only reason I came here was to win a World Series. So if this is the way that we’re gonna get one, so be it.”
Manager Mike Shildt wants elite defense at shortstop and Kim is a massive upgrade defensively over Bogaerts.
“(Kim) is an elite defender,” manager Mike Shildt said.
Bogaerts has primarily played shortstop his entire career. He did play third base for the Red Sox when he was first called up.
Kim is coming off a Gold Glove season, he won the award as a utility man. The slick infielder started 98 games at second base last year but also 29 at third base and 16 at shortstop.
Shildt first approached Bogaerts about moving off shortstop in December.
“My admiration for Xander Bogaerts went through the roof in this transition,” Shildt said. “… I can’t say it’s etched in stone 100 percent. We’re going to let him do it. We’re gonna see what it looks like. We’re gonna evaluate it. But he’s all in right now to go over (and) give it its full due. My admiration for him to be a good teammate, to recognize that we have an elite defender in Kimmy to go back and play shortstop, I just admire. It’s very impressive, and it speaks a lot for his team-first, I-care-about-our-group, big-picture (mentality).”
This a major shake up for the Padres who signed Bogaerts as a shortstop to an 11-year, $280 million contract. There was an understanding that at some point, the veteran would likely be moved off the position, just not this early on during his contract.
Bogaerts is going to do what’s best for his team, but it’s clear the Aruba native is still processing the move off his position.
“I could really be like, ‘You know what, I don’t want to move off yet,’ ” Bogaerts said. “But deep down I really feel like it might be time, and especially the respect I have for Kimmy defensively as a player, so it makes us better.”
