Padres land Machado in 10-year, $300-million deal
Infielder gets the largest free-agent contract in the history of North American sports
PEORIA, ARIZ. — For the second year in a row, the San Diego Padres have shocked the baseball world with a late acquisition of one of the free-agent market’s biggest prizes.
This time, the Major League Baseball team solved its need for a third baseman by acquiring one of the biggest superstars in the game, agreeing to a contract with Manny Machado.
Although Ron Fowler, Padres executive chair, said Tuesday morning “we do not have a deal with any free agent,” three sources who did not want to be identified confirmed the agreement, which multiple reports said was worth US$300 million over 10 years, with the ability for Machado to opt out halfway through.
The deal is the largest free-agent contract in the history of North American sports, though that very well could be short-lived, as Bryce Harper is expected to sign in the coming days.
People inside the organization expressed confidence in recent days that the deal would get done shortly. But according to multiple sources Tuesday, the Padres insistence there is not an agreement is based on more than Machado needing to pass a physical. The Padres, along with other teams that believed they were in on Machado, were evidently shocked word of an agreement became public so soon. The team expected more dialogue with Machado’s side before a physical was even scheduled.
Still, several sources said they expect the deal to become official soon.
The process seemed to drag on with just drips of news from week to week, but the landing of Machado actually came to fruition in a relative flash.
The courtship started later than last off-season’s wooing of Eric Hosmer that resulted in the first baseman agreeing to an eight-year, $144-million contract on the eve of spring training.
The Padres’ first contact with Machado’s representatives regarding the four-time all-star came in mid-January after reports surfaced that the 26-year-old’s price might not be as prohibitive as expected.
The Padres soon found out any deal would need to be for much more than the reported $25 million a year that had sparked their surge in interest. Still, in need of a third baseman and with Machado being among the youngest and best free agents to ever reach the market, the team pressed on.
General manager A.J. Preller flew to Miami the weekend before spring training to meet with Machado and his wife. Preller, Fowler and general partner Peter Seidler met with Machado’s agent, Dan Lozano, again on Monday night.
Team sources said it was Preller’s creativity and relentlessness that persuaded Fowler and Seidler that the investment was wise at this point, when the front office had essentially settled into mostly staying the course and eyeing 2020 as the year they would make a jump into contention.
Even before Tuesday, there had been much confidence expressed by players and coaches that the Padres were going to be better than people on the outside expected. Even in the light of spring training optimism, the talk was in stark contrast to what was said a year earlier.
There had been concern about Machado’s attitude and perceived lack of hustle, but the Padres expressed early on in the dealings that they had done their homework and felt comfortable with who Machado was.
One of Machado’s main supporters was Eric Hosmer, who management sought out since both players are from South Florida.
Tuesday morning, Hosmer said the way baseball is played in their hometown explains a lot about the edge with which Machado plays — including an incident in the National League Championship Series in which Machado appeared to kick the leg of Brewers first baseman Jesus Aguilar while running out a ground ball.
Machado has also been criticized for a perceived lack of hustle. The Padres believe that not only does Machado’s talent allay concerns about his occasionally not running hard, they are confident veterans in their clubhouse such as Hosmer and Ian Kinsler will set a tone for everyone else.
This acquisition changes the Padres like none has in decades, perhaps since the team traded for pitcher Kevin Brown prior to the 1998 season.
Machado is one of four majorleaguers to have a wins above replacement (WAR) of at least 5.9 in three of the past four seasons, and his 142 home runs over the past four years rank seventh. The last Padres position player to have a WAR of at least 5.9 was Chase Headley (6.4) in 2012, and just two other Padres position players have achieved that threshold since 2000.
Machado would have led the Padres in every offensive category except slugging percentage last season. Playing for the Orioles and Dodgers, to whom he was traded in July, Machado hit .297/.367/.538 in 2018. His career numbers in 926 games are .282/.335/.487 with 175 home rs.
This is the third year in row the Padres handed a player the richest contract in team history, following Wil Myers (six years, $83 million) in 2017 and Hosmer in ’18. While the Padres’ payroll, depending on the structure of Machado’s contract, is still just more than $110 million for 2019, a high-ranking Padres source said the team will not be signing Harper.