San Diego Padres: Realistic Chances of Signing Manny Machado
The San Diego Padres continue to keep their name in the Manny Machado sweepstakes as they reportedly made an aggressive offer to the free agent.
Andy Martino of SNY reported recently that the San Diego Padres have been making an aggressive push for Manny Machado. But he also said that Manny Machado may not want to go there.
As someone who has had the pleasure of spending a day in San Diego, I don’t know why anyone wouldn’t want to go there. Plus, they are an up-and-coming team that should be ready to compete in the next couple of seasons with one of the best farm systems in baseball.
And that’s why the Padres are being so aggressive this offseason. They know their time is coming, and they are desperate to put a winning product on the field.
If they could convince a big name free agent like Machado to come to San Diego, that could legitimize them going forward.
They started that movement last season by signing Eric Hosmer, but they need a bigger name like Machado to really get the fans excited.
Martino was not able to give specifics of what the offer may have been from the Padres, and we really don’t have confirmation of the type of offers Machado has received this offseason. But you would have to think that it’s going to take eight years and around $250 million to land him.
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The Padres currently have the fifth lowest payroll in all of baseball, so you know they have room to spend money.
It was believed earlier this offseason that they were more interested in signing Bryce Harper, which doesn’t make as much sense because their outfield is already crowded. But maybe they’ve realized Harper isn’t realistic for them and have turned their attention to Machado.
The Padres have a huge need at third base, but they’d have to convince Machado to play there as it sounds like he wants to stay at shortstop.
Fernando Tatis Jr. is almost ready to take over shortstop for the Padres, but his size and arm also would allow him to move to third if Machado is unwilling to go back to the corner.
Because the San Diego Padres have been so irrelevant for a while, they may have to overpay to get a big-time free agent to come in. Until they can show players they are for real, it will be hard to convince them to come to San Diego.
In the end, both Harper and Machado will follow the money. But if the money is even, they are going to pick a team with a better track record.
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Unfortunately, that’s the reality for the San Diego Padres right now. So if they want Manny Machado, they’ll need to overpay.