Thanks for playing, folks. The Manny Machado sweepstakes are over. It wasn't the Phillies, it wasn't the Yankees…heck, it wasn't even the White Sox, who now have two of Machado's friends and no Machado.
Instead, the late arrival to the party, the San Diego Padres, have inked the star shortstop to a 10-year, $300m deal — the second largest in MLB history behind Giancarlo Stanton's $325m contract.
Source confirms: Machado to #Padres, 10 years, $300M. First reported: @JeffPassan and @Feinsand.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) February 19, 2019
The Padres surprised some folks when they emerged in both the Machado and Bryce Harper talks. Considering they are coming off a 66-win season, they're not a typical landing spot for one of the best free agents to ever hit the market.
However, they have a bright future, and Machado is younger than most free agents at just 26-years-old.
Their World Series odds were cut in half at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook, going from 100-1 to 50-1. Their win total initially rose from 76.5 to 79.5, but has since fallen back to 78.5. Their odds of winning the NL west have also improved, moving from 30-1 to 12-1. They're not contenders, yet, but they are in a good spot going forward.
Their farm system is the best in the MLB per ESPN's Keith Law, which is headlined by Fernando Tatis Jr. — the No. 2 overall prospect per MLB.com's Top 100 list. They have seven top-50 prospects and nine total prospects on the list.
Depending on their plans, they could opt to trade several of these chips for more established veteran help in the next year or two, especially in the pitching department.
Machado is coming off a season in which he tied or bested career marks in all three triple crown categories, as well as wRC+, walks, OBP, SLG, OPS and strikeout rate.
He'll join the middle of a Padres lineup that will include Wil Myers, Eric Hosmer, Hunter Renfroe and Franmil Reyes. San Diego has an interesting mix of established bats and youngsters that could produce any number of results.
Though they have a bright future, I wouldn't run out and bet on them to win the World Series or anything. Remember, this team won 66 games last year. It would still be an uphill battle for them to make the playoffs, as the Dodgers should be at or above the 90-win threshold, while the NL East and NL Central have several wild card candidates that could also push for 90 wins.
The addition of Machado could make them an 80-win squad, but when your rotation is headlined by Joey Luchessi, Robbie Erlin and Bryan Mitchell, you can't be that good.
All right, so… when will Bryce Harper sign?
