At least one of the interminable top free agent winters is over! And it comes after a surprising late flourish by a perceived non-contender! I say good for the Padres!
BREAKING: Free agent star Manny Machado has agreed to a deal with the San Diego Padres, league sources tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 19, 2019
Much more on this in a moment.
OK, some immediate reaction stuff while we await the particulars:
UPDATE: Manny gets the number he’d been seeking:
BREAKING: Manny Machado has agreed to terms on a deal with the Padres. According to a league source, it’s for 10 years and $300 million – the biggest free-agent contract in the history of American sports.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) February 19, 2019
We’ll see what the actual terms are – opt outs? back-loading? deferrals? – and what that does to the effective number, but at least Machado can say he got 10/$300M. It’s an enormous contract, and an impressive commitment by the Padres. This strikes me as good for the sport, and could offer up a nice change of the narrative.
Now comes Harper’s 10/$310M contract with the Phillies …
UPDATE 2: Machado gets an opt-out after year five:
Opt out in Machado deal is after the fifth year.
— Tim Brown (@TBrownYahoo) February 19, 2019
I expect he would have wanted to get that opt-out earlier, both because “obviously” and because the new CBA will be in place in three years, but still. This is a really good contract for him.
UPDATE 3: I highly doubt this is a “it’s a false report!” comment, and instead is probably just a matter of t’s still to be crossed:
Padres executive chairman Ron Fowler: “We do not have a deal. We are continuing discussions.”
— Dennis Lin (@dennistlin) February 19, 2019
UPDATE 4: Padres pulled a stealth move:
Kenny shocked, says: “We thought we were the high offer on the table.” pic.twitter.com/kjM9SWAFld
— Teddy Greenstein (@TeddyGreenstein) February 19, 2019
Not that the White Sox were about to go to that level:
Ken Williams: “We could not go that $300M level.”
— Daryl Van Schouwen (@CST_soxvan) February 19, 2019