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Manny Machado’s October raised the stakes for the Padres’ offseason

A better roster would make a lovely consolation prize.
ByTremayne Person
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Oct 7, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado (13) reacts after making a catch during the fourth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers in game four of the NLDS for the 2026 MLB Playoffs at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
Oct 7, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado (13) reacts after making a catch during the fourth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers in game four of the NLDS for the 2026 MLB Playoffs at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Garrett Mitchell caught the ball. The Padres still have to answer for everything around it. As painful as the postseason was, they have to move on and plan their next step forward. We can spend the winter mentally thinking about Manny Machado’s drive going beyond Mitchell’s glove, but San Diego needs more than a better ending to one swing.

Machado’s selection to MLB.com’s All-Postseason Team gives his October the credit the Padres’ early exit threatened to bury. We tend to let the last game swallow everything that came before it. We should give him credit for that. We should also expect him to build on it.

He hit .350 with a 1.080 OPS this postseason. Those are the numbers we want from the player at the center of this franchise. That should also put some urgency into the Padres’ winter. A productive postseason from Machado is an opportunity this organization has to cash in. There’s no reservation system for another one.

Watching the Brewers finish the job should leave us frustrated about how close the Padres were. San Diego could hang with that team. We saw enough competitive baseball in that series to know the gap was manageable, even if Milwaukee earned the right to keep playing.

Manny Machado needs to bring his October into next season

For all the satisfaction of seeing Machado recognized, we remember how frustrating his regular season was. Too often, we waited for the version of Manny who could take over an at-bat and make the middle of this lineup feel dangerous.

October gave us that player again. A short postseason run can’t settle every concern about a long season. But it gives Machado something useful to carry into his preparation: a stretch of production against playoff pitching, with every opponent working to find a way through him.

The Padres need more of that quality across the summer, giving the lineup a dependable force long before elimination enters the conversation. That’s what makes this recognition worth discussing beyond a congratulations. Machado reminded us how much he can still influence this team’s ceiling. Against the club that eventually won it all, he looked capable of changing where San Diego’s season went.

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