MLB free agency: Xander Bogaerts lands with Padres on 11-year, $280 million deal

Xander Bogaerts is headed to the San Diego Padres.

The All-Star shortstop has agreed to an 11-year, $280 million deal, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan, ending a tenure with the Boston Red Sox going back 10 seasons and giving San Diego yet another megadeal on its books.

Bogaerts, 30, hit the open market after opting out of the final three years of the six-year, $120 million contract extension he signed in 2019 and rejecting a qualifying offer from the Red Sox, attaching draft pick compensation to his signing.

It has been nine years since Bogaerts made his MLB debut after years of hype as a prospect, and the results were as good as the Red Sox could've reasonably hoped. Bogaerts has hit a robust .292/.356/.458 with 156 homers while earning four All-Star nods and five Silver Sluggers.

Bogaerts was the sole remaining member of the Red Sox's 2013 World Series champion team. He received a very well-timed cup of coffee that year and was a much more important member of the 2018 title-winning team.

His free agency loomed large in Boston the past few years, thanks to the team's tenuous status as a long-term contender and the previous departure of Mookie Betts, who was traded after the Red Sox failed to agree on a contract extension.

Now, another star is leaving.

Bogaerts among a deep free-agent shortstop class

Bogaerts is just one of several MLB shortstops who were expected to get megadeals in free agency.

After last year's loaded free-agent shortstop class, which saw the Red Sox land Trevor Story on a six-year, $140 million deal and move him to second base, this year's was just as good and featured a notable repeat.

Carlos Correa reentered free agency after opting out of the short-term deal he signed with the Minnesota Twins after he failed to land the monster contract he wanted last winter. Trea Turner hit the open market after a year-and-a-half of elite play for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Dansby Swanson earned a first career All-Star nod and a Gold Glove in a strong walk year for the Braves.