Manny Machado, Padres agree to new $350-million, 11-year deal
All-Star slugger Manny Machado has agreed to a new $350-million, 11-year contract that will keep him with the San Diego Padres through 2033, according to a person with knowledge of the deal.
The person spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because Machado must pass a physical before the deal, which was first reported by ESPN, is finalized. Machado was scheduled to bat second Sunday in the Padres’ spring training game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Machado, 30, had said that after this season, he planned to opt out of the $300-million, 10-year free agent deal he signed in 2019. With the $120 million he already has received, the new deal increases the free-spending Padres’ commitment to Machado to $470 million over 15 years.
Machado, who has helped turn the Padres into a World Series contender, finished second in the NL MVP race last year. He’ll anchor a superstar-laden lineup that includes Xander Bogaerts, Juan Soto and Fernando Tatis Jr., who can return on April 20 from an 80-game suspension for performance-enhancing drugs.
Earlier in spring training, Machado said a deadline for negotiating a new deal had passed, but owner Peter Seidler has said that retaining the smooth-fielding third baseman was his top priority.
Seidler, a member of the O’Malley family that once owned the Dodgers, hasn’t been afraid to spend big money in pursuit of the franchise’s first World Series title. The Padres haven’t been to the Fall Classic since 1998, when they were swept by the New York Yankees.
In the middle of the San Diego Padres efforts to surpass the Dodgers is Manny Machado, the third baseman who has evolved into the club’s unquestioned leader.
Hometown product Joe Musgrove was given a $100-million, five-year deal in July. The Padres signed Bogaerts to a $280-million, 11-year deal just after the winter meetings and signed ace Yu Darvish to a new $108-million, six-year deal earlier this month.
With the flashy Tatis sidelined all of last year, first due to injury and then the suspension, Machado was a steadying force in helping lead the Padres on a thrilling run to the NL Championship Series, where they lost in five games to the Philadelphia Phillies. The Padres eliminated the 101-win New York Mets in the wild-card round and then beat the 111-win rival Dodgers in the NL Division Series.
Machado batted .298 with 32 home runs and 102 RBIs.
The $350-million deal will the fourth-largest contract behind Mike Trout ($426.5 million for 12 years), Mookie Betts ($365 million for 12 years) and Aaron Judge ($360 million for nine years).
However, the $31.8-million average will rank just 16th.
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