San Diego’s bid for its first pennant since 1998 took a major hit when Xander Bogaerts broke his shoulder during a dive in the infield this week.

Bogaerts, whose adjusted payroll salary is listed by Spotrac at $25,454,545, is the highest-paid player on the Padres.

Now the team will have to play without him for at least two months, according to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union Tribune.

His spot will probably be taken by recently-acquired Luis Arraez, a two-time batting champion who had been serving as designated hitter because his defense at second base is undependable.

Officially, the roster spot occupied by Bogaerts went to David Peralta, a 36-year-old outfielder most recently with the Cubs. Pitcher Luis Patino transferred to the 60-day injured list to make room for Bogaerts on the 10-day list.

Even before the Bogaerts injury, which came while trying to field a hard grounder from Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr., the Padres faced a difficult if not impossible path to a division title in the National League West.

With a 26-26 record entering play Friday, the team is seven games behind the front-running Dodgers and barely hanging on to a wild-card spot in the post-season tournament that includes six teams per league.

First medical reports indicate Bogaerts won’t need surgery but will require considerable time for the shoulder to heal. More tests are planned but a return before late summer is unlikely, team sources said.

The initial imaging was negative but subsequent tests revealed a fracture.

The Padres had hoped Bogaerts would boost his atypical .219 batting average – 66 points below his 2023 mark of .285. He is a .289 lifetime hitter.

A four-time All-Star and four-time .300 hitter with the Boston Red Sox before signing with San Diego as a free agent, Bogaerts shifted from shortstop to second base this season. His power seemingly evaporated at the same time.

The 6-2, 180-pound native of Aruba had personal peaks of 33 home runs and 117 runs batted in for the Red Sox in 2019 but had only four home runs in 200 plate appearances this year.

He joined the Padres during the baseball winter meetings on Dec. 8, 2022, when he signed an 11-year contract for $280 million, according to ESPN.

The deal surprised the baseball world because San Diego already had established shortstops in Fernando Tatís, Jr. and Ha-Seong Kim.

Tatís moved to right field to make room in the infield for Bogaerts. The Padres, an expansion team that began play in 1969, are the oldest team that has never won a World Series. They lost twice, in 1984 and 1998, to the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees, respectively.

Bogaerts brought World Series experience from Boston, where he won two world championship rings, but so far, that hasn’t helped.

On Wednesday, Rutgers basketball signed its fourth player from the NCAA transfer portal when San Diego transfer PJ Hayes made his commitment.

Hayes will join the Scarlet Knights for his final year of eligibility. The 6-foot-6, 215-pound forward from Waconia, Minnesota adds some much-needed offense to Rutgers.

Last year at San Diego, Hayes averaged 10.5 points per game, shot 42.5 percent from the field and 39.5 percent from three-point range for the Toreros.

At then No. 24 Gonzaga last year, Hayes scored 12 points and shot 38.5 percent from the field in a 101-74 loss.

During the 2023-24 season, Hayes led San Diego in made three-pointers (73) and three-point percentage (.397). Also, he was second among his team in free throw percentage (.791) and third in scoring last season.

Rutgers adds San Diego transfer PJ Hayes – who averaged 10.5 points and shot 40 percent from 3 this past season.

The 6-6 forward played his first three seasons at Black Hills State University – where he shot 43 percent from deep.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) May 22, 2024

Before transferring to San Diego, Hayes played three seasons at Black Hills State (Division II) where he shot 42.8 percent from beyond the arc. In his final season with the Yellow Jackets, he shot 45 percent from three-point range, ranking 13th in the nation.

Hayes was named to the South-Central Region All-Tournament Team as a junior, recording a 40.5 three-point percentage and 225 points in 31 games.

Hayes brings his shooting ability to the Scarlet Knights, adding much-needed three-point shooting to Rutgers’ roster.

Service workers and patient care staff picketed at UC San Diego’s Jacobs Medical Center on Wednesday. They’re asking for higher wages and housing assistance amid ongoing contract negotiations.

The University of California and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees or AFSCME, which represents more than 30,000 university workers, have been negotiating a new contract since January.

The union said workers are struggling to afford housing, especially near university campuses.

Radiologic technologist Melissa Macario commutes from Chula Vista to La Jolla. She said the university’s wages are no longer competitive in the local market.

“We’ve been struggling for quite some time since the pandemic,” she said.

The union said the university offers home loan programs for faculty and executive staff, but not its service workers.

“They receive low-interest mortgages and down payment assistance that they only give to the executives,” cardiac surgical technologist Stevie Bellwood said. “That needs to be applied to everybody.”

Last year, unions and other organizations urged the University of California to divest from Blackstone, a private equity firm that owns property throughout San Diego. Advocates say the firm is contributing to a lack of affordable housing.

Blackstone and the University of California announced a $4 billion investment in the firm by UC Investments in January 2023.

“We are highly aligned through this investment to further our relationship,” Blackstone President and Chief Operating Officer Jon Gray said at the time.

In a statement, the University of California wrote that this year’s bargaining sessions have been productive.

“We empathize with the challenges our AFSCME-represented employees face, especially California’s increasing cost of living,” the university wrote. “Our goal is to acknowledge their growing contributions, appreciate their commitment, and offer a financial package that helps alleviate some of their financial strains.”

The university has proposed raising patient care and service workers’ minimum wage to $24 an hour by April 2025.

Meanwhile, state lawmakers are considering delaying a separate health worker minimum wage law – that would also apply to University of California workers – by a month over concerns about the cost. That law phases in a $25 minimum wage for certain workers over the course of a few years.