Even though the San Diego Padres' offseason is quiet, it is still too quiet. There is no recruitment or trade as a free agent. There are only rumors that he is interested in reuniting with Kim Ha-sung (30), the main shortstop who was released as a free agent, but there is no specific progress.토토사이트
The East Village Times, a local media outlet in San Diego, said on the 13th (Korea time) that Xander Bogaerts' contract period is nine years away, adding that San Diego's reckless spending has ended at least for the time being. The Padres made investments and fans came, but there are limits. They are at a disadvantage as the TV broadcasting rights contract is gone.
San Diego's broadcasting rights income was cut off in May 2023 due to the bankruptcy of Diamond Sports Group, the owner of Valley Sports, which was the exclusive broadcaster of the club. The Los Angeles Dodgers in the same National League (NL) western district secured $280 million in annual income in 2013 by signing a broadcasting rights contract worth $7 billion over 25 years with Time Warner Cable.
The media said, "Valley Sports was in the middle of a 20-year contract to pay San Diego $1.2 billion, which was very useful. However, the contract for 2023 was broken, and the annual income of $60 million disappeared. This is a considerable amount for San Diego," pointing out why the club has no money to spare.
However, San Diego's financial difficulties are not limited to broadcasting rights issues. From 2018 to 2023, the team paid a whopping $144 million for eight years, Manny Machado for 10 years, Fernando Tatis Jr. for 330 million dollars for 14 years, Joe Musgrove for five years, Bogaerts for 280 million dollars for 11 years, Darvish Yu for six years, Machado for 350 million dollars for 11 years, and Jake Cronenworth for seven years. As a result, the payroll became tight and the team completely turned to austerity from last year.
The media said, "Hosmer will also receive $13 million in 2025, the last year of his contract. He has not played for the team since 2022, but during that time, San Diego paid him more than $40 million in remaining salary. It was the wrong contract from the beginning," adding, "The latest contract issue is Bogaerts. He has more than nine years and 229 million dollars left. During the two seasons as a member of San Diego, Bogaerts has an OPS of .747, which is different from what he expected when he signed an 11-year contract."
San Diego surprisingly recruited Bogaerts, who was Boston's franchise star, after the 2022 season. That year, San Diego had Kim Ha-sung, who settled as the main shortstop, but he had to spend a lot of money to bring Bogaerts. As a result, Kim Ha-sung moved from shortstop to second base, and Cronenworth moved from second base to first base. As the two players were valuable and had good team balance when they were shortstop Kim Ha-sung and second baseman Cronenworth, the recruitment of Bogaerts was considered an excessive investment.
Concerns have become a reality. Over the past two years, Bogaerts has posted average batting performance of 276 games (283 hits in 1,024 at-bats) with 30 homers and 102 RBIs and an OPS of .747. His defense index also dropped, and he handed over his position as the main shortstop to Kim Ha-sung last year and moved to second base. As he is now in his mid-30s, if he fails to rebound within a few years, he will highly likely become a malicious contract. He has 229 million U.S. dollars left over the next nine years, or about 337 billion won in Korean money.
The media said, "If Bogartz fails to perform above average, it is a huge overpayment. Currently, Bogartz seems to be an ordinary player, and it is hard to imagine that he will get better as he gets older," adding, "San Diego clearly regrets it." Both Kim Ha-sung and Jurickson Profar have not signed FA contracts, but the possibility of San Diego bringing them back is slim. San Diego cannot afford to recruit them financially."
"Bogartz is considered one of the worst contracts in baseball right now. It was too hasty to sign a contract with Bogartz, and he could end up walking the same path as Hosmer," San Diego said. "I just hope that Bogartz will come back to life and justify some of the expenses for the next nine years."