Beltran: Timing helps Padres

TAMPA — Carlos Beltran knows something about signing a huge free-agent contract, and though he seemed a bit stunned when he heard the news Manny Machado had agreed to a 10year, $300 million deal with the Padres, he insisted it wasn’t a shock.

But he also believes Machado would make a different decision as an older player.

“When you become a free agent, especially the first time around, I don’t blame him that he went to the team [that offered] the most money,’’ Beltran said Tuesday at George M. Steinbrenner Field in his new role as a Yankees special adviser. “He’s trying to secure his future. I think $300 million will do that for him pretty well.”

Beltran laughed as he said it, before adding, “I do believe one thing: As a player, at the stage where he is, I can understand why he ended up in San Diego. If this would have been his second time around [as a free agent], I don’t think he’d end up in San Diego. I’m not trying to take anything away from them, but there are only like five teams in baseball that aim to win every single year.”

The Padres, he noted, aren’t one of them.

Beltran, who was represented by Machado’s agent, Dan Lozano, for the latter part of his career, was at the dinner when the Yankees hosted Machado in New York in December.

“I thought we had a pretty good chance to get him,’’ Beltran said of the meeting, though he acknowledged he wasn’t aware of what Machado was seeking or what the Yankees might have offered.

And Machado’s deal with San Diego means Giancarlo Stanton (13 years, $325 million) still has the most expensive contract in the sport — at least until Bryce Harper signs.