SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – The first big trade of Padres 2024 Spring Training involves infielders Xander Bogaerts and Ha-Seong Kim.
On Friday, manager Mike Shildt told the media that Bogaerts and Kim are swapping positions -- Kim will man the shortstop spot and Bogaerts will shift to second base.
“My admiration for Xander Bogaerts went through the roof in this transition … We’re going to let him do it, we’re going to see what it looks like, we’re going to evaluate it … to be a good teammate, to recognize that we have an elite defender in ‘Kimmy,’ who won a Gold Glove … it speaks a lot of his team-first, ‘I care about our group,’ big picture; it says a lot about him,” Shildt said to reporters during a media session at Padres camp in Peoria, Arizona.
Throughout his 11-year career, Bogaerts has primarily been a shortstop and has never played second in the big leagues. In 2023, the 31-year-old logged 146 games at short (his nine other games played were at designated hitter).
Kim, 28, won the 2023 National League Gold Glove in the utility category. During the season, he played mostly second base, but his versatility allowed him to play games at shortstop and third base.
Despite announcing the position switch, Shildt said the move was not “etched in stone” and left open the possibility Kim and Bogaerts would swap spots again.
Bogaerts, a four-time All-Star, signed an 11-year, $280 million contract with the Padres following the 2022 season. He spent the first 10 years of his career with the Boston Red Sox.
Kim enters the 2024 season in the final year of his 4-year, $28 million deal. He joined San Diego after a successful career in the Korea Baseball Organization.
