NLCS: Manny Machado Has Been a $300 Million Bargain for San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are a team on the rise, despite finishing last in National League West, finishing in ninth place during the first half of last season, and having finished in last place during the first nine months of this one. The Padres had the lowest payroll in the NL West and were one of the least active in terms of trades during the offseason. But the team has finally managed to sign Manny Machado to a five-year, $147 million contract.
There has been much speculation in the last month about what the Padres are getting in return for Manny Machado. I won’t even try to defend it. The money is great. The player is great. The clubhouse chemistry seems to be strong. I’ll leave the debate for another time, and I’m sure that we’ll be discussing the Machado trade on this website (or maybe not). There are many stories and theories to be had in this one, but at the end of this article, I’ll lay out how we can conclude that Machado is a $300 million bargain for the Padres.
If you look at his on-base percentage over the last five seasons, he has been a good base runner. In 2015, he had a.301/.378/.497 slash line. In 2016, he had a.318/.397/.500 slash line. In 2017, he had a.286/.341/.432 slash line. In 2018, he had a.291/.355/.496 slash line. So he has certainly done his job as a base runner. He’s also a great athlete. He’s a great defender. He has good range and the ability to cover a lot of ground. He’s also a good base-stealer.
He’s great in center field.
So what’s the deal here? After the fact, people will talk about how he didn’t get along with the team’s management. That couldn’t be further from the truth. I believe that he did get along with the team’s management. He didn’t like how the team was running its clubhouses. He didn’t like that the payroll was too low. And he didn’t like the trades that were made during the offseason. He didn’t like that he