Manny Machado has finalized a new deal with the San Diego Padres. The slugging third baseman put his signature to an 11-year, $350 contract. It will begin this year, running through the 2033 campaign, which will be Machado’s age-40 season. No doubt it’s a good deal for Manny but what about the Padres?
Manny Machado's new contract with the Padres will be the 4th largest deal in MLB history joining:
💰 Mike Trout: $426.5M
💰 Mookie Betts: $365M
💰 Aaron Judge: $360M
💰 Manny Machado: $350M pic.twitter.com/EO2GntfzeC— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) February 26, 2023
Since Machado had six years and $180MM remaining on his previous deal, this new agreement will add five years and $170MM in new money.
Machado signed a 10-year, $300MM deal with the Padres in 2019, that included an opt-out after five years. But he has continued to produce for the Friars and had one of his best seasons ever in 2022. Machado belted 32 home runs at an elite level, including a 2022 season that was perhaps his best yet. He hit 32 home runs, drove in 102 runs and hit .298. He finished second in the National League MVP balloting to Paul Goldschmidt of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Manny is a Difference-Maker
The Padres had gone 12 years without a playoff berth before signing Machado. But now San Diego fields a lineup that has five All-Stars in the everyday lineup. Visits to the postseason, like in 2022 when they ousted the Dodgers, should become the norm and not the exception. Not with a core group that includes Fernando Tatis Jr., Xander Bogaerts, and Juan Soto. In the past year, the Padres have also extended deals with starting pitchers Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish. Soto and closer Josh Hader joined the team via trade and they could be next in line for new deals.
Welcome to Luxury Tax Country
San Diego’s spending has sent the club soaring into luxury tax territory. They’ve paid the competitive balance tax in 2021 and 2022. However, it seems that owner Peter Seidler is more than willing to pay those penalties as part of making the Padres a competitive team for the present and the future.
They are sure to do so again here in 2023, having been hovering around the third tier of $273 million in recent weeks. At what point does Seidler say enough to the spending? At this point, he’s destroyed the long-held perception that “small market” teams aren’t supposed to spend like this. Then there’s this final question. What’s taking them so long to get a deal done with Juan Soto?
Scott Boras on line 1 Mr. Seidler.
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