Padres go all-in on Manny Machado with insane 11-year deal
The San Diego Padres simply weren't going to let Many Machado get away.
Things admittedly appeared bleak after Machado himself revealed his intentions to opt out of his contract after the 2023 season.
Shortly thereafter, word spread that the Padres and Machado were some $145 million apart in negotiations after San Diego offered the NL MVP finalist a five-year, $105 million extension that would begin after the remaining five years and $150 million on his current deal expired.
Even that wasn't enough to startle fans. Seeing how the Padres have thrown around money in recent years, you just had a feeling Peter Seidler and AJ Preller were going to come knocking with an offer Machado couldn't refuse.
The end result? An 11-year, $350 million extension, per ESPN's Jeff Passan.
Padres, Manny Machado agree to mammoth 11-year extension worth $350 million.
This deal ties Machado to the Padres for likely the remainder of his career. It tops the 10-year, $300 million contract he inked with the organization before the 2019 season. He had made $108 million of that deal, and was set to pocket $32 million this upcoming season before opting out.
It stands to reason wondering Machado's new deal means for Juan Soto's future with the organization, but the Padres simply had to get this done before Opening Day.
After all, Machado was the most important player on a team that was three wins away from making the World Series. He played 150 of a possible 162 games and hit 298/.366/.531 with 32 home runs, 37 doubles, 102 RBI, and100 runs scored to go with a 6.8 WAR. He finished second in NL MVP voting, and there's a large contingent of baseball writers who believe he should've finished first.
Machado has arguably been a top-five position player in all of baseball since he joined the Padres. This contract might not look great six or seven years down the road, but that won't mean anything if Machado continues producing at a high rate for the next handful of seasons and San Diego brings home a World Series (or two) along the way.
We'd like to think this rules out signing Soto -- or even Shohei Ohtani next offseason -- but anything is possible with the new-look Padres.
Rob Manfred must be furious. Oh well.