Benefits trump risks in signing of Machado
REMEMBER that Manny Machado opt-out clause, the fly in the Padres’ ointment — pterodactyl-sized to many — that threatened to loom over the clubhouse and season like a dark, angry wall cloud?
Rewind to the anxiety and handwringing over the third baseman’s comments about the sea of money swirling in the free-agent market. Sleuths parsed each word, wondering whether it was savvy negotiating gamesmanship or a shot across the front-office bow.
Go ahead and forget about all that.
Machado and the team have agreed to an 11-year, $350 million extension that launches him into the stratosphere of half-a-billion-dollar players over the life of the deal.
“They believed in me from Day 1, and here we are,” Machado said Sunday morning. “We’re excited to be here for the rest of our careers and have this hat going into the Hall of Fame.”
You wanted Machado, right? Now you’ve got him. Did you want him into his 40s? Do you want him eating up that much payroll late into his career, as the Padres attempt to balance win-now spending with financial juggling that keeps the window to contend open longer?
Most tend to view everything through one lens. It’s all or nothing, black or white, good or bad, fearless genius or reckless nonsense. The Machado deal lives somewhere in between.
Locking down the 30-yearold for the rest of his career does all kinds of crucial things for the Padres in the short term.
First of all, it keeps one of the best players in baseball from hunting a real-estate agent. He finished No. 2 in NL MVP voting last season. He’s an annual Gold Glove contender. You can ink him into the lineup for 150-plusgames, most seasons. The combination of offensive production, elite defense and actions-speak-louder leadership is difficult to match.
Erasing speculation about Machado’s future eliminates the numbing hum of an everyday distraction. It fires another lightning bolt through the clubhouse — stunningly, with no end in sight — that signals owner Peter Seidler intends to win, no matter how many trips to the ATM machine are needed. The Machado extension, with all the cash-soaked things that came before it, amplifies the message even more.
The Padres’ commitment to swing for the fences has grown into something bigger, a tractor beam pulling in bats and arms from all directions. Designated hitter Nelson Cruz could have gotten more than the $1 million deal he signed for this winter. Ditto that for hometown pitching gem Joe Musgrove and his $100 million contract. Here comes Matt Carpenter. Here comes Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha.
They see it. They feel it. They want to be a part of it.
Machado started it all and, now, has doubled down. It’s nearly impossible to place a value on what those ripples mean in the moment and what they’ll mean in the seasons to follow.
“That’s what they want, man,” shortstop Xander Bogaerts said of ownership, which committed to him for 11 seasons as well. “They’re driven by that. They have the hunger, desire to win. To come in here and be a part of something that could be special, a city that has never won yet.
“You can see, they’re pushing all the chips in.”
Does the Machado extension work in the medium term? Barring injury, yes. He’s playing as well as or better than any point in his career. With thorny money issues pushed into the rearview mirror, it’s all about lacing up and playing.
Does the extension work long-term? That’s the biggest question, even though that answer remains far from a simple yes or no. An inthe-moment positive about Machado potentially creates a different concern down the road. He plays all … the … time. There will be a lot more miles on his tires than most when he creeps into his late-30s.
The key is how much production and winning can the Padres squeeze out of the star along the way. If the Padres storm to a World Series or two, the later years matter less and the investment will have been worth it. If the franchise fails to break through while filling his bank account, that’s a different conversation.
Does the Machado deal handcuff the Padres from trying to extend Juan Soto? Maybe. But in this wacky world of the free-wheeling Padres, would you bet against it? What about trying to chase down Shohei Ohtani a season from now, a $600 million-or-so pitching and hitting whale in waiting?
Have you learned nothing from all this?
Too much risk? The forward-thinking Seidler repeatedly says that doing nothing constitutes risk of its own. It’s not about the money, really, at least at this point. It’s about what Machado does to earn that money.