Manny Machado Signs Extension With Padres

By: Steve Atkinson

Padres third baseman Manny Machado will be a Padre for life after signing an 11-year $350 million contract. He had said earlier this week that he would opt out of his current contract which was 10 years and $300 million he signed in 2019. The additional 11 years make it clear that owner Peter Seidler and President of Baseball Operations A.J. Preller wanted to get this deal done before the regular season started. To the rest of MLB owners that is how you do it when you want to win a World Series, you get the star talent signed. I’m sure Juan Soto is next on the list to get signed.

You could tell Machado was the Padres top priority as Peter Seidler indicated last week. Machado has matured since being a Padre. He isn’t the same player he was back on the Dodgers in 2018. He wants to win a World Series and has the chance to do that with the stacked roster the Padres already have going into the 2023 season. 

Manny Machado Will Be A Padre For A Long Time

Since Machado got to San Diego in 2019 they’ve signed Fernando Tatis (14 years $340 million) Yu Darvish (6 years $108 million) and Joe Musgrove (5 years $ 100 million). Juan Soto will probably get signed to an extension before the season begins. The Padres are number three in the league in terms of their payroll. For a small market team they are spending like they are a big market team it goes to show where this team could go for many years to come.

Padres Want To Win A World Series For Many Years

Owner Peter Seidler said this quote this week

“I think our business performance would be the same whether or not the football team was here, or any other team for that matter,” he told The Times. “We have a great product, great ballpark, great food. If we weren’t winning, people would not be showing up.“

That is what other teams don’t get. If you don’t have good players nobody will show up watch a minor league product in a Major League baseball field. That is a loser mentality. What the Padres have built is a winning mentality for many years to come. They want the draw, people to talk about them, and want to win a World Series. There are way more people interested in Padres spring training than a team that has zero clue what it’s doing.

This is what A.J. Preller said this offseason about Manny Machado

“He’s coming off another MVP-type season, and we want him here with the Padres; we want him here a long time,” Preller said. “But he’s under contract, so it’s more Manny’s decision, honestly, with how this plays out with the opt-out at the end of the season.

“What we’ve tried to do is make it known that we value and appreciate him, and we’re going to listen to what he wants to say, and then we’re going to figure out what’s best for everyone moving forward.”

Machado finished second in the NL MVP voting last year with 32 home runs and 102 RBI’s. In four seasons with the Padres Machado has hit 108 home runs and 340 RBIs. Now, it will be even more of those things for many more years to come. Machado said today before the game against the Diamondbacks.

“They believed in me since day one and here we are. … We’re excited to be here for the rest of our careers and have this hat going into the Hall of Fame.”