Manny Machado, Padres agree to new $350-million, 11-year deal

By Merry On Feb 26, 2023

All-Star slugger Manny Machado has agreed to a new $350 million, 11-year contract that will keep him with the San Diego Padres until 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, first reported by ESPN, is finalized. Machado would hit the second Sunday in the Padres’ spring training against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Machado, 30, had said after this season he plans to forgo the $300 million, 10-year free agent deal he signed in 2019. With the $120 million he’s already received, the new deal increases the free spend Padres’ commitment to Machado to $470 million over 15 years.

Machado, who helped make the Padres a World Series contender, finished second in the NL MVP race last year. He will anchor a superstar-laden line-up that includes Xander Bogaerts, Juan Soto and Fernando Tatis Jr., who may return on April 20 following 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 keeping the nimble third baseman was his top priority.

A member of the O’Malley family who once owned the Dodgers, Seidler wasn’t afraid to shell out big bucks to clinch the franchise’s first World Series title. The Padres have not been to the Fall Classic since 1998, when they were swept by the New York Yankees.

Hometown product Joe Musgrove was awarded a five-year, $100 million 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 through injury and then suspension, Machado was a regular force helping the Padres on a thrilling run to the NL Championship Series, where they lost to the Philadelphia Phillies in five games . The Padres knocked out the New York Mets’ 101 wins in the wild card round and then beat the 111 wins rival Dodgers in the NL Division Series.

Machado hit .298 with 32 home runs and 102 RBIs.

The $350 million deal will become the fourth-largest after 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 only rank 16th.