At last... Manny Machado Mania is over! As long as the Padres announce his deal anyway and they better. I can't take anymore "Manny to the Yankees" rumors anymore. It's been one hell of a ride this offseason. One ride that I am super happy to get off of.
February 19, 2019 is a great day for a couple of different reasons. First, Machado finally got his $300 million offer he was waiting for. The White Sox offered the higher salary per year but Machado wanted that $300 million offer and it took until February but he finally got it. Yippee I guess? Happy contract day for him. More importantly for me, the news of Machado's deal was the best birthday gift baseball could've given me. I will celebrate that, I wanted no part of "I'm no Johnny Hustle!"
So Machado gets his deal, and the Yankees get him away from the American League! I call that a win-win scenario. The Yankees will host the Padres in May and other than that he couldn't be any further away. Machado, you are welcome to come visit for a few days and admire the Giancarlo Stanton bobblehead wishing that was you, but that's all you get. After that, you gotta go! Enjoy the National League, I know many of us will enjoy not having you in the American League.
The best bit of irony or me in all of this is knowing that Machado didn't get EVERYTHING that he wanted. He made such a big stink about wanting to play shortstop and that was his expectation for last season. But here we are going into 2019 and he will likely be the Padres third baseman. I love it. The Padres have Fernando Tatis Jr, the second best prospect in baseball primed to soon takeover at shortstop. Eventually, Machado will be part of a dangerous Padres infield, but he will be manning the hot corner instead.
San Diego seems to be an odd destination for Machado to land, and it is. Never believe it when a team tells you they have no money. This is huge for the Padres. They just spent $300 million for a superstar player and will now HAVE to continue to build on that. They will have to be willing to go out and get guys to be competitive. You don't go out and spend that kind of dough and put him in a uniform just to be a mediocre team. The Padres just made a long-term investment, for at least five years. They can't be cheap now. They better be "all in."
I'm still adjusting to the idea of Machado in a Padres uniform, but he won't be wearing pinstripes so I really couldn't care less. In fact, it doesn't sound like he came anywhere close to wearing one. It sounded like he could be when we wrote BREAKING REPORT: YANKS OFFERED TO MACHADO but we said to take it with a grain of salt. After all of that noise, it sounds like the Yankees never even made an offer.
Multiple sources say the "Johnny Hustle" comment was disturbing to Hal Steinbrenner but he did have Brian Cashman meet with him in December to feel him out. The Yankees wanted to see if there was a mutual fit and if Machado would also be more open to a shorter term deal. I guess it didn't take long to see there wasn't a mutual fit and that his asking price was ridiculous. No matter what the reasoning was, I am glad the voices in the room advocating against signing Machado won. Oh and clearly.
So Machado can celebrate now, because his record breaking contract may not stay that way for long. If he can get $300 million, Bryce Harper should get more. Not because I dislike Machado, but because the teams that lost out on Machado aren't going to let it happen again with Harper. Someone is going to spend some stupid money. But perhaps Harper is more likable....maybe.
Maybe I am wrong. Maybe the Yankees passing on Machado is a mistake even though I don't think so. If so, odds are he won't play for the Padres all ten years. He will play there for a few years just long enough for the Padres to get sick of him, then they will dangle him as trade bait and then the Yankees could reconsider.
Either way, we won't have to hear about him for a while. Thanks for the birthday present, San Diego. I owe ya one!
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