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SAN DIEGO — Shortstop Xander Bogaerts and the Padres agreed to an 11-year, $280 million contract late Wednesday, sources confirmed to ESPN, a monumental move that brings the longtime Boston Red Sox luminary to a team already laden with star talent.

The stunning deal, consummated as an especially active winter meetings came to a close, adds Bogaerts to a Padres team that already includes Juan Soto, Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. Boston, meanwhile, was left lamenting the loss of a homegrown talent who made his major league debut at 20 years old and leaves at 30 after opting out of the final three years of his contract.

Bogaerts won a pair of World Series and made four All-Star teams, including in 2022, when he hit .307/.377/.456 with 15 home runs and 73 RBIs in 150 games. The expectation is he will remain at shortstop, with Ha-Seong Kim — who took over at the position in 2022 when Tatis was injured and suspended for a positive performance-enhancing-drug test — moving to second base, incumbent second baseman Jake Cronenworth sliding over to first, Tatis shifting to right field and Soto going to left field.

The deal, which runs through Bogaerts’ age-40 season, capped a winter meetings during which teams signed 18 players for nearly $1.6 billion, including the New York Yankees locking up outfielder Aaron Judge for $360 million, the Philadelphia Phillies signing shortstop Trea Turner for $300 million and the Red Sox spending more than $105 million, between his salary and the posting fee to his former team in Japan, to add outfielder Masataka Yoshida.

Bogaerts entered the winter as one of the prizes of a strong free agent class. After making runs at Turner and Judge, the Padres pivoted to Bogaerts, spooked neither by the cost to sign him nor the domino effect his arrival might cause.

With the deal, the Padres’ payroll spikes to more than $250 million, a staggering number for a team with the 27th-ranked media market in the country.

Boston, which typically has among the largest payrolls in the game, declined to play anywhere near the financial realm to which the Padres were willing to go. On a day in which the Red Sox agreed to a deal with Yoshida as well as a two-year, $32 million pact with closer Kenley Jansen, they found themselves without another high-profile, popular player two years after trading outfielder Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The signs that Bogaerts could leave Boston had percolated after he rejected a contract extension earlier this year. The opt-out in Bogaerts’ six-year, $120 million contract extension hung over the Red Sox like the sword of Damocles, threatening to take away another core member of the team that won the World Series in 2018 and made the American League Championship Series in 2021 before falling to last place in the AL East this year.

As Boston faltered, the Padres ascended with a series of moves bolder than the last. First, they signed Machado to a 10-year, $300 million free agent contract before the 2019 season. Two years later, they gave Tatis a 14-year, $340 million extension. And at the trade deadline this year, they dealt five prospects for Soto, who turned down a $440 million contract extension offer from his previous team, the Washington Nationals, and can reach free agency after the 2024 season.

Without Tatis, the Padres won 89 games and secured a wild-card berth, finishing 22 games back of the first-place Dodgers in the National League West. San Diego beat the 101-win New York Mets in the wild-card series, ousted the Dodgers in the division series and dropped the NL Championship Series to the Phillies, who lost the World Series to the Houston Astros.

The Padres last made the World Series in 1998, getting swept by the Yankees, and have yet to win a championship since their inception in 1969. Now the only major men’s professional sports team in San Diego, the Padres have entranced the city, capping season-ticket sales and regularly filling Petco Park as they fell just shy of 3 million attendees, the fifth-highest number in baseball behind the Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, Yankees and Atlanta Braves.

The amount the Padres were willing to spend to sign Bogaerts nevertheless stunned the baseball industry. While Machado can opt out of his contract after the 2023 season and the Padres are slated to shed nearly $60 million in payroll beyond him with the impending free agencies of pitchers Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, Josh Hader and Drew Pomeranz, the financial three-card monte in which they are engaging left rival executives questioning their long-term plan.

The Padres pay no mind to outside opinions. Moving Kim and his elite glovework at shortstop to second for Bogaerts, who scouts and defensive metrics agree is inferior defensively? No problem. Depleting their elite farm system for the final 2½ years of Soto’s club control? The price of building a championship-caliber team.

Bogaerts knows what World Series rings look like, nabbing a pair in his 10-year career, during which he has hit .292/.356/.458 with 156 home runs and 683 RBIs while playing at least 136 games in each of his eight full seasons. The ability to stay healthy proved a hallmark for Bogaerts, who signed with the Red Sox out of Aruba as a 16-year-old, rocketed to the major leagues and became a fixture in the lineup with a sweet right-handed swing oriented for contact and damage.

Now he will join an offense that, despite the star power, ranked 13th in the major leagues with 705 runs. The addition of Bogaerts and return of Tatis should supercharge it.

Boston, on the other hand, faces serious questions about its present and future.

The Red Sox could move second baseman Trevor Story to his natural position at shortstop, though the velocity on his throws, according to scouts, could hinder his effectiveness there a year after he signed a six-year, $140 million free agent deal. Boston also needs to figure out the future of star third baseman Rafael Devers, a 26-year-old who can hit free agency after the 2023 season and is expected to command over $300 million. The Red Sox and Devers remain far apart on extension talks, sources said.

MLB Network first reported the agreement between Bogaerts and the Padres.

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Top vote-getters Judge, Ohtani first two in ASG

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Top vote-getters Judge, Ohtani first two in ASG

NEW YORK — The Los Angeles DodgersShohei Ohtani and the New York YankeesAaron Judge were the first players picked for the July 15 All-Star Game at Atlanta’s Truist Park, elected as starters by fans Thursday.

Judge led the major leagues with 4,012,983 votes in the first round of fan balloting, and the outfielder was picked for his seventh American League start in eight All-Star Games, though he missed the 2023 game because of a sprained right big toe. He was also the leading vote-getter during the first phase in 2022 and last year.

Ohtani topped the National League and was second in the big leagues with 3,967,668 votes, becoming the first designated hitter to start in five straight All-Star Games.

The pair was selected under rules that began in 2022 and give starting spots to the top vote-getter in each league in the first phase of online voting, which began June 4 and ended Thursday. Two finalists at every other position advanced to the second phase, which runs from noon ET on Monday to noon ET on July 2. Votes from the first phase do not carry over.

An individual can vote once per 24-hour period.

Remaining starters will be announced July 2. Pitchers and reserves will be revealed July 6.

Seven players from the World Series champion Dodgers advanced to the second phase along with three each from the Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers and New York Mets, and two apiece from the Cleveland Guardians, Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays.

AL finalists: Catcher: Alejandro Kirk, Cal Raleigh; First base: Paul Goldschmidt, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.; Second Base: Jackson Holliday, Gleyber Torres; Third Base: Alex Bregman, José Ramírez; Shortstop: Jacob Wilson, Bobby Witt Jr.; Designated Hitter: Ryan O’Hearn, Ben Rice; Outfield: Javier Báez, Riley Greene, Steven Kwan, Mike Trout

NL finalists: Catcher: Carson Kelly, Will Smith; First Base: Pete Alonso, Freddie Freeman; Second Base: Tommy Edman, Ketel Marte; Third Base: Manny Machado, Max Muncy; Shortstop: Mookie Betts, Francisco Lindor; Outfield: Ronald Acuña Jr., Pete Crow-Armstrong, Teoscar Hernández, Andy Pages, Juan Soto, Kyle Tucker

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Giants CEO: Bonds to get statue at Oracle Park

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Giants CEO: Bonds to get statue at Oracle Park

SAN FRANCISCO — Barry Bonds will be getting a statue outside the San Francisco Giants‘ home stadium where he set baseball’s career home run record, the team’s CEO said Thursday.

Larry Baer, Giants president and chief executive officer, was asked during a radio interview about a statue for Bonds, and he responded that it was “on the radar.” But Baer didn’t have any details of when it would happen.

“Barry is certainly deserving of a statue, and I would say should be next up,” Baer said during an appearance on San Francisco’s 95.7 The Game. “We don’t have the exact location and the exact date and the exact timing. … It’s coming. All I can say is it’s coming.”

Bonds played for San Francisco the last 15 of his 22 big league seasons, hitting 586 of his 762 homers while with the Giants from 1993 to 2007. He set the single-season MLB record with 73 homers in 2001, and hit his record-breaking 756th homer to pass Hank Aaron in a home game off Washington’s Mike Bacsik on Aug. 7, 2007.

There are currently five statues outside Oracle Park, those of Hall of Famers Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Juan Marichal, Gaylord Perry and Orlando Cepeda. The Giants retired Bonds’ No. 25 jersey in 2018.

Bonds, a seven-time MVP and 14-time All-Star, is not in the Hall of Fame. He failed to reach the 75% threshold required during his 10 years on the Baseball Writers Association of America’s Hall of Fame ballot, mostly because of steroids allegations that dogged him during his final years with the Giants. The Contemporary Player Committee also passed on electing Bonds in 2022, though the committee could reconsider Bonds’ status.

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Kershaw K’s 5, sets up home chance at 3,000

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Kershaw K's 5, sets up home chance at 3,000

DENVER — Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw inched closer to 3,000 career strikeouts Thursday, fanning five in six innings against the Colorado Rockies.

Kershaw has 2,997 strikeouts in his 18-year career, three short of becoming the 20th major leaguer to reach the milestone.

Kershaw’s next scheduled start is expected at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday against the Chicago White Sox.

“I knew I had eight to go,” Kershaw said. “Eight in Colorado is never going to be easy to do. I felt good. But pitched well, got through six. A chance to strike out three at home would be really cool.”

The 37-year-old will be the third active pitcher to reach the mark behind Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer. Verlander, in his 20th season, has 3,468 strikeouts. Scherzer has 3,412 in 18 seasons.

“He’s certainly competing, making pitches,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I think he has gotten better each time out, even with not the best of stuff. He just found a way to be efficient.”

Kershaw struck out three in the first two innings Thursday and got his fourth for the final out of the fifth. He struck out Tyler Freeman for the second out of the sixth inning and left the game after retiring the next batter. Kershaw threw 69 pitches, 41 for strikes.

“You always want to be efficient, no matter what,” Kershaw said. “My days of throwing 115 pitches is probably over. Getting through six is probably the biggest thing at Coors Field.

“Doc [Roberts] is doing a good job of protecting me, which I appreciate. I just want to be able to go back out there every fifth, sixth day. Whatever that means is good for now.”

Kershaw recorded two strikeouts on his 73 mph curve and got three more on sliders against a Rockies lineup that had all right-handed batters. He earned his fourth straight win and helped the Dodgers finish a three-game sweep with a 3-1 victory.

The three-time National League Cy Young Award winner and 10-time All-Star received plenty of crowd support in Colorado, getting a standing ovation from some in the Coors Field crowd when he left the mound after the sixth inning.

Kershaw has made eight starts this season after being activated from the injured list May 17 following offseason left knee and foot surgeries. His ERA dropped to a season-low 3.03 after Thursday’s game.

“He has given us a shot in the arm,” Roberts said. “We’re sort of ailing on the starting pitching side. Coming in and giving us valuable innings, I just love that kind of edge that he gives on start day. We certainly feed off that.”

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