The Padres are in full win-now mode after the amount of spending they did this offseason, but their future could look a little bit different.
Manny Machado confirmed last week he will opt out of his lucrative 10-year contract he signed with San Diego back in 2019. The star third baseman will make $30 million in 2023, which is fourth at his position behind Los Angeles Angels’ Anthony Rendon, St. Louis Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado and Boston Red Sox star Rafael Devers, who signed his extension this offseason.
The 30-year-old All-Star is the highest earner on his team, but he clearly values himself a lot. However, it’s not exactly welcome news after the Padres added Juan Soto and Xander Bogaerts within one year.
“It’s obviously a hard decision for me and my family, but it’s not about myself or anything,” Machado said on “Ben & Woods on 97.3 The Fan” on Friday, per Audacy. “Some people might say, ‘He just wants the money.’ No, we love San Diego. We have a home there. We love this organization, we love the way things have been moving around here, and going in the right direction.
“But at the end of the day, sometimes business is business. And I think it wouldn’t be in my interest if I — you know, the market has changed in five years. In one year it’s changed. You see it in life, you see it in the real world. Let’s take away baseball. The price of eggs is how much? It’s just life. Things change, a lot of things change. Ultimately, the markets change, right?”
The price of eggs has been the symbol of inflation in the United States with prices rising up 60% year-over-year, according to CNBC. There certainly is a lot more nuance as to why prices have risen, but Machado has made his case clear.
The market changes every season, and he wants to take advantage of that. There was a lot more spending this past offseason, with the Padres and New York Mets showing off their aggressiveness in free agency.
Machado was the runner-up in the National League MVP race, so he’s still in the prime of his career. If San Diego is unable to grant the contract the 12th-year third baseman desires, someone will.
The contract drama could make 2023 even more interesting for a Padres team that seemingly has a “World Series or nothing” mentality. Things didn’t get off to a great start for Machado when he got a rules violation in a spring training game against the Seattle Mariners on Friday due to the new pitch clock.
