Manny Machado's latest Padres feat should cement his Hall of Fame legacy

We are no longer talking about Manny Machado just being an all-time great with the San Diego Padres. Now in his seventh season with the Friars, Machado is comfortably in the conversation with Tony Gwynn, Trevor Hoffman, and Jake Peavy.

We have now entered the discussion of whether Manny Machado is a Hall of Fame third baseman, and on Thursday night, the 32-year-old etched himself into history, becoming just the 10th third baseman all time to reach 350 career home runs.

Padres' Manny Machado is on his way to a Hall of Fame career

Machado is clearly still in his prime, too. Entering Friday with a .317 batting average, that currently stands as his best mark across his 14-year MLB career, alongside 17 doubles and 42 runs, which both sit among the Top 10 among all National League hitters.

With six All-Star nods, two Gold Gloves, two Silver Sluggers, and a Platinum Glove award, maybe Machado deserves a seat at the table with guys like Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts, who are already considered Hall of Fame candidates.

Machado boasts a 60.0 bWAR, which is 17th all time among third basemen. The only players ahead of Manny Machado who are not in the Hall of Fame are Graig Nettles, Buddy Bell, Ken Boyer, and Sal Bando. But at 32 years old, Machado will likely pass each of them in career bWAR.

Among active players, Machado's 60.0 bWAR is fifth, trailing only Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, Paul Goldschmidt, and Freddie Freeman. That's pretty elite company, but for some reason, Machado is not as part of the Hall of Fame narrative like the other four sluggers are.

Machado is closing in on 400 career doubles (380), 2,000 hits (1,972), and is already north of 1,000 career runs scored and RBIs. He doesn't need to worry too much about keeping this red-hot pace into his late 30s, but if he performs like an All-Star for another three or four years, he will be a certified Hall of Famer. He's already deserving of being in the conversation. That's for sure.