PEORIA, Ariz. — Xander Bogaerts seemed to say all of the right things Friday, just hours after agreeing to move from shortstop to second base, a position he has never played professionally. Along the way, he also supplied some of his usual, refreshing candor.
Bogaerts didn’t take groundballs at second during the offseason, he said, because he was not officially asked to change positions until Friday morning. More time to prepare, he noted, would have been welcome.
“That’s probably the only part that could have been a little different,” Bogaerts said, “but I mean, I don’t know how much interest they really had in moving me off or whatnot.”
A day later, San Diego Padres manager Mike Shildt was asked about Bogaerts’ observation.
“It’s a very fair point,” said Shildt, who raised the idea of a position switch during a pre-Christmas visit to Bogaerts’ native Aruba. “But quite candidly, those are things that we’ll keep inside the organization. … In all honesty, could there have been more lead time? Yes, but there’s a reason behind it. You can speculate all you want — you have every right, of course — but nothing outside of, you know, these walls. We have our reasons.”
One prominent reason: The Padres entered the offseason unsure if they would keep or trade Ha-Seong Kim, who has drawn interest from around the league. A trade of the middle infielder likely would have prompted the team to keep Bogaerts at shortstop, where he is a more sure-handed defender than 20-year-old prospect Jackson Merrill, who could make the team primarily as an outfielder.
The announcement of Kim’s move back to starting shortstop would suggest the Padres now have no plans to trade him anytime soon — at least not this far out from the trade deadline. The team intends to try to extend Kim, who will be eligible for free agency in October.
“I think that’s a conversation that my agent and the organization will have,” Kim said through interpreter David Lee, “but as I’ve said before, I’m very content in San Diego, I’ve always appreciated the support that I get from the fans and I have great teammates here around me — superstars and a very quality group of players. I’m very appreciative of being in San Diego, and as I’ve said, I always think, ‘Will I get the same kind of support from the fans if I move to a different team?’”
Regardless of Kim’s destination in 2025, the Padres will have to answer another question: For how long should they keep Bogaerts at second base and Jake Cronenworth at first base? While Bogaerts’ ability at second remains to be determined, evaluators universally see Cronenworth, who is beginning a seven-year, $80 million contract after a down season, being a more valuable second baseman than he is a first baseman.
Some in the organization would have preferred to put Bogaerts at first base, another position he has never played professionally. But, according to a team source, the Padres have not had serious discussions with Bogaerts regarding such a move.
Musgrove to start Cactus League opener against Dodgers
Shohei Ohtani won’t be playing. Nor will Yoshinobu Yamamoto. But Joe Musgrove will.
Musgrove, the Padres’ potential Opening Day starter, is scheduled to start Thursday’s Cactus League opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The teams will meet again Friday, then not again until March 20-21 in Seoul. Both clubs are in the midst of an accelerated spring training, and Musgrove isn’t worried he will give away too much too soon.
“It’s all prep,” said Musgrove, who will be followed on the mound by Michael King. “The stuff that (the Dodgers are) seeing now is not what they’ll see in a few weeks. It gives me a chance to see them in the box and get a little comfortable. … I’ll probably only face a handful of guys. But yeah, with the schedule being the way it is and Korea coming up quick, we’ve got to get in games and get built up and ready.”
Joe Musgrove’s only Opening Day start came in 2020 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. (Joe Camporeale / USA Today)
In a typical spring, an established starter such as Musgrove might be eased into exhibitions. In this atypical spring, the Padres and Dodgers will play just 21 Cactus League games apiece before flying to South Korea. Musgrove is expected to start one of the two games in Seoul. If he pitches the first, it would mark his second career Opening Day start — and his first as a member of the Padres.
“We haven’t talked too much about who’s going in those games, but hey, they do count,” said Musgrove, who threw a little more than 30 pitches Saturday in a session of live batting practice. “I’d be ready to throw if I get that chance.”
The Padres’ other primary candidate for the March 20 start may be content to ease into exhibitions. Yu Darvish threw slightly fewer than 30 pitches Monday in live batting practice — notably, several pitches fewer than in his previous round. He indicated that his next appearance could again come on a back field, rather than in a Cactus League stadium.
“Last time, I wasn’t at my best, so today, I was focusing more so on throwing strikes,” Darvish said through interpreter Shingo Horie.
“Next time, two innings, try to get more strikes. That’s the plan.”
Abnormal schedule and all, the Padres have been encouraged by what they’re seeing from both veterans. Darvish spent most of last spring away from the team, barely pitched for Samurai Japan in the World Baseball Classic and, after rushing to prepare for the regular season, submitted a bumpy, injury-shortened campaign.
“I feel much better during spring training this season,” Darvish said.
Musgrove’s apparent readiness for the start of the 2024 Cactus League was in doubt at the beginning of the offseason. Inflammation in his right shoulder capsule wound up ending Musgrove’s 2023 season in August.
“Actions speak louder than words. The good news is we’ve been able to say some really positive things about his offseason,” Shildt said. “He feels great.”
Suarez a tentative favorite for closer
The Padres seem unlikely to name a closer until late in spring training. And they might, in effect, name more than one. With relief ace Josh Hader off to Houston, Robert Suarez is the presumptive favorite as he enters the second year of a five-year, $46 million deal, but the hard-throwing right-hander is coming off a season in which he missed time with elbow inflammation and, after his return, failed to miss many bats.
“I’m just prepared to help the team in whatever situation they need me in,” Suarez said through interpreter Danny Sanchez. “I’m ready to help out in whatever way that looks like.”
At times, Shildt indicated, it might look like Suarez — or whoever winds up as the primary closer — entering the game in the eighth inning. The manager also did not dismiss the possibility of occasionally using that pitcher a little earlier.
“It’s more like the eighth and ninth are interchangeable, but I can’t rule out the end of the seventh to grab the eighth and then go from there,” Shildt said.
Another candidate for ninth-inning work, Yuki Matsui, signed a five-year, $28 million contract that includes incentives for games finished. Like Suarez, Matsui was a standout closer in Japan, and the lefty has shown his intriguing stuff early in camp. Matsui also was an especially deliberate worker in Nippon Professional Baseball. Thus, he must learn to abide by a major-league pitch clock while adjusting to throwing major-league baseballs.
For now, Suarez is the favorite for a majority of the Padres’ save opportunities.
“There will be days where guys are going back-to-back (days) and they need an extra day,” Shildt said. “The bullpen fluidity literally changes every year about who’s available. But (Suarez) is a guy that’s got all the things that … work perfectly at the end of a game.”
(Top photo of Ha-Seong Kim and Xander Bogaerts: Rick Scuteri / USA Today)
