It has been exactly one year since the biggest signing in the history of the San Diego franchise became official. The team stunningly pulled in former Orioles and Dodgers third baseman/shortstop Manny Machado on a 10-year, $300MM contract. The deal easily trumped the Padres’ previous record contract – the eight-year, $144MM pact they awarded first baseman Eric Hosmer in February 2018.
Along with outfielder Bryce Harper, Machado entered last winter’s free-agent market as one of the most ballyhooed free agents of all-time. The two made for rare in-their-prime superstars to get to that stage, but it took quite some time for either to find landing spots. Unlike this offseason, free agency moved at a glacial pace then, leaving Machado and Harper without teams until almost March. However, both ultimately inked two of the richest contracts free agency has seen (Harper’s $330MM guarantee still stands as the largest ever awarded on the open market).
When Machado became a free agent, expectations were he’d sign with a big-spending team like the Yankees, but they and others decided to go in another direction. And Machado didn’t do himself any favors when he said during the prior fall that he’s “not the type of player that’s going to be ’Johnny Hustle.’” Nevertheless, he arrived on the market as an incredibly accomplished player.
Upon getting to free agency, Machado was a 26-year-old with four All-Star nods and two Gold Gloves under his belt, and he showed he could handle both short and third with aplomb. Furthermore, from his first full season in 2013 through 2018, Machado batted .283/.337/.489 with 168 home runs, accounting for the seventh-highest fWAR among position players (28.9). For the most part, he was also rather durable in that span, twice appearing in 162 games in a season and amassing at least 150 appearances five times.
Machado’s sturdiness continued in his first season as a Padre in 2019, when he took part in 156 games. The longtime shortstop did see time there, but only because stellar youngster Fernando Tatis Jr. missed a significant amount of action thanks to injuries. The plan was (and continues to be) for Machado and Tatis to form one of the premier left sides of the infield in baseball. When healthy, there’s a case they did just that, though Machado’s first year in San Diego was arguably somewhat disappointing. Primarily a third baseman, Machado took 661 plate appearances and hit .256/.334/.462 – good for a slightly above-average 108 wRC+. That comes off as pedestrian in comparison to some of his past seasons, yet he still mashed 32 homers and recorded 3.1 fWAR.
Most teams would sign up for the type of production Machado offered in 2019 from their third basemen. However, the Padres probably wanted more bang for their buck in the first season of a $300MM contract. Perhaps the Padres will get it this season, as Machado has shown an ability in the past to bounce back from seasons that have been so-so by his standards (compare his 2017 to his 2018, for example). If he returns to elite form, it would only help the Padres in their quest to break what’s now a 13-year playoff drought.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
No problem being Johnny Strikeout!
Nobody in the world is worth that effen much. In sports or anything. Ridiculous
Those sideburns…
wait for all the geniuses who already know this deal was a bust
Of the 300m+ ones inked so far, none IMO opinion will work out, tho think the Cole deal may have the guy with the best chance to pay dividends
Agreed. They are all too long. The teams have to be figuring that they will get enough value in the early years to compensate them for dead money (and a roster spot) later, There have been a handful of players (eliminating the juicers) who remained potent in their mid-thirties and later–but most of these guys were the absolute elites.. So, the likelihood is you are going to lose, it’s just a question of how much.
Or used the right stuff to mask it like HOF Jeter who was great friends of Arod and Nomar both known to use. It reminds me of Arod Melky and Cano being pals and we saw how that turned out
Harper is and should work out. They haven’t even paid him yet. He has made them more money then he has been paid so far. If he went to NY LA Boston etc it wouldn’t work out, they are already going to the games. But Philly, wow, they needed some star power and some positive exciting pr and he brought it and made them a ton of money. Baseball only he won’t be worth it. Machado didn’t have that effect and baseball wise he is What he is. Look deeper into his stats and he is is not worth 30 million. Cole is worth it, dominating, but he has to stay healthy for 9 years so that is a lot of risk. He could because he has great mechanics and a good body for durability. Not a lot of miles on his arm for his age either. Massive contracts rarely pay off but Harper and Cole have a alright chance.
You must be a Philly fan let’s hope they can do better in2020.
I will again point to the fact that Houston pitchers achieve increases in rpm they can’t be achieved without using foreign substances, maybe Cole will continue to do so in New York but at some point over the next eight years you would think that the league will either make it legal or stop it.
One problem is they’ll still be paying Hosmer and Machado when Tatis, Paddack and Gore are hitting free agency
Machado will still be a Padre when that happens. He will be another Luis Pujols.
I meant Albert Pujols. It’s late.
He could be another Luis Pujols, too…a weak-hitting AAAA catcher.
And so what? who cares, AJ is going for it now
W caption
“though Machado’s first year in San Diego was arguably somewhat disappointing”
I don’t really think that’s arguable, and saying “somewhat disappointing” is even pretty generous…
I still love Manny even though he’s a bit of a dirty player. Soft hands, rocket arm. A toss up who you’d rather have defensively at third, him or Arenado. The average needs to go up. Should we be concerned that he only hit 32 hr with that juiced ball?
Shrug.
Stayed healthy, that’s a plus.
Cooperstown if he can stay relatively healthy.
Bc he stepped on a player
I’ve seen Adam Eaton pull the dirtiest of sides ever against the padres
When he was a dbag
Arenado
He’s more old-school style similar to the times when hard takeout slides and catcher collisions were allowed. I’d take Machado defensively due to his ability to play SS as well but it’s very close. 32 HRs isn’t too shabby for a down year considering that Petco is a pitcher’s park.
Padre fan at time said “see how good AJ Preller is”
As a White Sox fan, I wanted the Sox to sign Manny Machado. A man can admit when he was wrong, and boy was I wrong. A year later, I couldn’t be happier with the fact that he chose S.D. This is one of the main reasons why Preller is on the hot seat now. Moncada > Machado all day. Don’t @ me
The Machado contract isn’t making Preller’s seat any hotter. At least he’s productive. And as far as I know the Padres didn’t have a Moncada in their system to play 3rd base if they hadn’t signed Machado.
If you think a $30mm player with an OPS under .800 is productive then yes Preller is doing a fine job
Ty France. That was the Pads likely opening day third basemen in 2019 had they not signed Machado.
.663 OPS against RHP’s. Yikes
If you think 12 homers and 37 RBI’s after break is productive u get prize
I would choose San Diego as well over south side
Sounds good. I’ll let the Padres know
Chicago is a great summer city. Players also don’t tend to live on the South side. That aside, he rightfully chose SD, because they guaranteed $50mil more than anyone else. WSox are better off for spreading the $$ among several good players.Wheeler choosing Philly also a blessing. That is 2 lucky misses in a row.
OK CWS 2019 if you say so, we’ll see who’s eating dust in three yrs. and who’s in the playoffs for the next two yrs.
I’m a diehard Sox fan I’d rather paid wheeler that extra $ then what they paid for Kuechel
Can we at least wait for two meh seasons to label this a bad deal? Everyone is so reactionary as if down years don’t happen. I can only imagine what would’ve been said about Babe Ruth the year his average dropped 88 points from the previous season. Oh yeah, he raised it 82 points the season after.
Lots of jealously since they didn’t get the guy, Manny’s contract will be a total steal in two yrs. I’ll say he’ll ave. 35 to 40 HR’s per year, with 90 RBI’s and a .275 ave. Padres just need someone behind him in the order.
Especially an adjustment year. Generally it’s reasonable to expect a year to adjust to new surroundings.
No more “he was getting used to a new environment” excuse for Machado. A 110 OPS+ won’t cut it… well for Preller. Machado gets paid regardless.
Can’t judge a 10 year contract 1 year in, but he has a lot to prove in 2020.
They expect him to earn those later dollars with massive performances up front and then suck at the end of the contract. This isn’t some extension for a prospect. If he isn’t knocking on a .950 OPS in years 1-5, then it’ll be hard to recoup anything close to that value.
I thought Manny’s contract had an opt out after the fifth season.
It does
He does at 30 after the ’23 season.
OK, I saw the picture of Manny and for the first couple minutes was wondering “Why is he wearing a Pirates uniform”? Looked at it again and noticed it’s a Padres uni. Didn’t the Pirates have a uniform similar to this years ago?
Just why? They have so much talent and they screw it all up.
I like the title
This Month in history
Remember last year when half the people here literally lost their minds conjuring up conspricay theories the owners were colluding to not pay the players? Cringy
The aftermath Machado and Harper laugh to the bank surely getting a little help from all the noise
It only takes 1 but kudos to all the other teams who stayed far far away
The owners did conspire. They agreed that the Padres would sign quasi stars to ridiculous contracts, then of course, lose big time.
Then during the next CBA, the owners will use their media control to highlight the big Padres contracts as proof that big contracts don’t win games. The people will side with the rich owners.
Expect the Padres to sign Springer and/or Baurer next year for 150 million plus.
Love just making stuff up.
Johnny Ankle Stomper did okay in his first season in San Diego, considering the $$$ he is getting, it was very disappointing, despite hitting 32 home runs, his 5th season with 30 or more ding dongs.
Thank You, Manny will consistently hit 30 to 40 HRs a year and if the padres get their guys on base ahead of him he’ll ave. 90 to 100 RBI’s per season, I’ll take that any day for this ankle stomper, shows he’s wotth his $30M per year.
Padres would like a do over. Machado has always been a poor hitter in pitchers parks. They’d pass on Hosmer too, if they could go back in time. Could have used that 444 million on better players.
Time will tell I’ve seen a lot worse use of money spent on players, who in their first yr. were on the IL and never came close to 30 HR’s plus.
The trouble with players who come up when they are 19 or 20 like Machado is that the press and fans project significant improvement as the player ages. If he has an .861 OPS and wins a Gold Glove at 22, imagine him at 28 to 30! The trouble is, that improvement rarely happens. At this point, Machado is what he is – a 3 WAR player who will occasionally have a better year and sometimes dip below, but ultimately settle into his mean. Exactly like Pujols, his contracts is FAR too long, he has a LOT of miles on the odometer for a player who is still relatively young, and his body is not getting any less thick (he won’t stay on the left side of the infield for his entire contract). The difference is that at least Pujols is well-respected in the game (Machado is not) and also the Angels have quite a bit more money than the Padres, so they are not hamstrung by his contract like the Padres are by Machado, Hosmer, and Myers. The signing was ill-considered and driven by Preller’s job insecurity.
Has never had an OBP of .400, knocked in 100+ RBI’s only once. Has a ton of unproductive AB’s (k’s), and plays dirty.
Sounds like old school baseball what’s wrong with that?
I am mystified that AJ Preller still has a job. What has he *actually* done for the Padres?