The Padres have signed Manny Machado, but
people were expecting him to go to a better team, but the signing was good for
baseball.
There are two reasons why
the Manny Machado signing is good for
baseball.
1. MACHADO GOT HIS MONEY
All offseason, if you turned on
the television on any sport channel, all they were talking about was the notion
that Machado and Harper were not going to get paid $300 million because no
major league front office wants to handcuff themselves for ten years because of
one player, and that player is going to get old.
Well, this signing proved all of
them wrong because he got the $300 million that everyone originally thought he
was going to get before his postseason antics occurred as a Dodger.
Craig Kimbrel, Dallas Keuchel, Marwin Gonzalez, and Bryce Harper are still not signed, so
this signing was crucial for them because Kimbrel and Keuchel can perhaps
increase their prices because they know that the deal will be for less years, and
they know that the team’s do have the money.
Then, when Bryce Harper’s camp
heard the news of Machado’s contract, they should have been jumping up and down
in excitement because now Harper will get $300 million.
In fact, he will get much more
than $300 million because there have been multiple reports that have stated
that Bryce Harper will get much more money than Machado, simply because he hits
the same amount of home runs, and is one of those players that is marketable
and can ignite a clubhouse.
2. MACHADO DID NOT SIGN WITH A BIG MARKET
TEAM
I am sure Manny Machado signing
with the Padres is exactly what Rob Manfred and the league wanted because he
goes to a smaller market team, which will bring more eyes to San Diego.
For the last decade, the smaller
market teams like the Padres do not get any love from the national audience or
broadcasters because they don’t have that big star, but now they do.
Free agents usually want to go sign with the big market teams who are
contending right now because they are impatient and want to be in the spotlight
right when they sign on the dotted line, but Machado has showed through this
signing that big players are fine with signing with teams like the Padres.
In recent off-seasons, J.D. Martinez signed with the Red
Sox, Dexter Fowler signed with the Cardinals,
and Jason Heyward signed with the Cubs.
These are just a few examples of big players at the time when they were free
agents, who signed with big market teams.
But now with Machado signing with
the Padres, and Eric Hosmer signing last off season
with them as well, this should start a trend of players signing with ‘up and
coming teams’ and not just the big teams who are contending right now.
It is good for baseball because
now there is some diversity in the game because you have star players all over
the league including some in the small markets. There is Trout in Anaheim;
Puig, Kemp, and Votto in Cincinnati; and the White Sox are in contention for
Bryce Harper.
The league is now in a very good
place, which needs to be encouraging for both the players and the league.
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