Padres offer Machado at least $240M deal
The San Diego Padres are willing to sign free agent infielder Manny Machado to an eight-year contract worth somewhere between $240 million and $280 million, USA Today reported on Monday.
The contract offer includes “heavily deferred” compensation, the newspaper said, citing two people familiar with the negotiations.
Machado also has received an offer from the Chicago White Sox. While the exact offer isn’t known, and various reports have been disputed, it is believed to be in the sevenyear, $175 million ballpark.
Machado, 26, also has been in discussions with Philadelphia. Multiple reports over the weekend indicated that this season’s other marquee free agent, outfielder Bryce Harper, is close to signing with Philadelphia.
In 2018, Machado hit .297 with 37 home runs and 107 RBIs between the Baltimore Orioles and Los Angeles Dodgers.
RED SOX PASS ON KIMBREL >> The chances of free-agent closer Craig Kimbrel returning to the Boston Red Sox were all but extinguished on Monday.
Red Sox chairman Tom Werner delivered the verdict when asked if the team might resign the 30-yearold Kimbrel.
“I think it’s extremely unlikely,” Werner told reporters.
Kimbrel saved 108 games and was an All-Star in each of the past three seasons in Boston. Overall, he is a seven-time All-Star but the free-agent market hasn’t been booming for his services.
Early in the offseason, there were reports Kimbrel was seeking a deal worth more than $100 million. As spring training approached, there was a speculation that a shortterm deal with the Red Sox might be an option.
Meanwhile, Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has expressed that the club doesn’t plan on paying big money for a closer. TROUT DOESN’T WANT TO TALK CONTRACT >> Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno said the club has had internal discussions about making a new contract offer for superstar outfielder Mike Trout.
The two-time American League MVP has two seasons remaining on a sixyear, $144.5 million deal but has not yet given an indication whether he intends to remain with the team after 2020. Trout doesn’t want to discuss the contract situation at all.
“I’m not going to talk about that,” Trout told reporters on Monday. “Just trying to come in and get ready for spring, get ready for the season. I don’t want to comment on that.”
Moreno also met with reporters on Monday and he declined to go into detail when asked if there had been negotiations with Trout and his agent, Craig Landis.
“I would probably say that we are in discussions (internally),” Moreno said. “In one of the last interviews I gave, I said it’s not in the back of our mind, but it’s in the front of our mind. I think it also depends a little bit on the agent and the player. So it’s not just us.”
Part of the speculation mill involving Trout is tied into his strong attachment to the city of Philadelphia.
Trout grew up in the small town of Millville, N.J., located about 50 miles from Philadelphia, and is a die-hard Philadelphia Eagles’ fan.
CLARK QUESTIONS COMMITMENT TO WINNING >> Major League Baseball Players Association executive director Tony Clark took a mighty swing at Rob Manfred one day after the commissioner said free-agent players were still unsigned because they failed to adjust their financial demands to fit with the market.
Clark questioned the commitment of clubs when it comes to putting together a winning team and said a number of clubs don’t “justify the price of a ticket.”
Manfred said Sunday that the sport’s reliance on analytics is changing the view on how players should be paid. The comments come as players such as Harper, Machado, Dallas Keuchel and Kimbrel remain unsigned.
“Markets change,” Manfred said. “People think about players differently. They analyze players differently. They negotiate differently.”
Clark sees it differently as this is the second straight offseason in which the free-agent market has been slow. Dozens of players remain unsigned and others took significant pay cuts to get a deal.
““Players commit to compete every pitch of every at-bat, and every inning of every game,” he said. “Yet we’re operating in an environment in which an increasing number of clubs appear to be making little effort to improve their rosters, compete for a championship or justify the price of a ticket.”