Infielder Manny Machado has agreed to a deal with the San Diego Padres, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN.
Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports further that the deal is for 10 years and $300 million. As Feinsand points out, it is the biggest free agent contract in the history of American sports. Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports also reports that there is an opt-out clause after the fifth season.
Machado is the biggest free agent to sign this offseason with Bryce Harper remaining unemployed – It will be interesting to see if Harper is able to break the record Machado’s contract just set.
As the Padres were without both a third baseman before this deal and have their top prospect is shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr., it remains to be seen which position he will be playing for them. Surely Machado will want to play shortstop, though with -13 DRS and -6.5 UZR last season at the position, San Diego will surely want him to play third base.
Helping the Dodgers get to the World Series last season, the 26-year-old Machado hit .297/.367/.538 with 37 home runs and 107 RBIs with the Orioles and Dodgers, playing in all 162 regular season games.
