The San Diego Padres reportedly made an offer to prevent Manny Machado from opting out of his contract, and it wasn’t nearly enough.
The San Diego Padres have shown over the years that they are all-in on making a push for their first World Series title. That was evident since they signed third baseman Manny Machado to a 10-year, $300 million deal back in 2019. But now, the Padres are in a dilemma after this season, as Machado publicly stated that he’s going to exercise his player option after the 2023 campaign to become a free agent.
Apparently, the Padres made an offer to convince him to avoid using the player option, but that wasn’t enough.
When meeting with the media this week, Machado confirmed that the Padres made just one offer two days before his Feb. 16 deadline. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union Tribune wrote a transcript of the questions and answer from the Machado scrum, and a question that was asked was “the offer was for five-years, $21 million a year, correct?”
Machado responded with a smile and said the following:
“You can write out whatever you want, honestly. I don’t know how you get this information. But write whatever.”
Padres made just one contract offer to Manny Machado ahead of Feb. 16 deadline
Machado set the deadline to reach an agreement on a contract extension on Feb. 16 since that was the official start of Padres spring training. After that, he wanted to focus on the upcoming season.
The third baseman had five-years, $150 million remaining on his contract after the 2023 season.
With Machado entering his age 30 season, he is going to explore the free agent market. This offseason, Rafael Devers reset the third base market, as he signed a 10-year, $313.5 million contract extension with the Boston Red Sox.
This past season, Machado put up strong numbers, recording a .298 batting average, a .366 on-base percentage, a .531 slugging percentage, 32 home runs, 100 runs scored, 102 RBI, and 172 hits in 150 games. Machado finished second in NL MVP voting behind St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt.
In San Diego’s run to the NLCS, Machado slashed .271/.327/.583 while recording four home runs, seven RBI, and 13 hits in 48 at-bats (12 games).
Machado confirmed that the Padres made one extension offer to him ahead of the deadline. Now, he is set to become a free agent next offseason.