San Diego Needed A Star, The Padres Delivered Manny Machado
Manny Machado is a member of the San Diego Padres. That’s a sentence I never thought I’d type. San Diego sports fans just don’t expect their teams to step up to the plate and do the right thing. But for once this town got exactly what it wanted, and the move may have saved sports in America’s Finest City.
The Padres haven’t been to the postseason since 2006 and haven’t had winning record since 2010. Time and again the franchise has been forced to trade away its top players or watch them sign mega-deals elsewhere. Due to its smaller market size, San Diego and the Padres were known for being relentlessly cheap in every way. You could always rely on bargain-bin players littering the field for the Friars.
Not anymore.
The franchise’s ownership group, led by Ron Fowler and Peter Seidler, sensed the frustration from fans — general manager A.J. Preller admitted as much during Machado’s introductory press conference. With a depressed free agent market and a gaping hole at third base, the Padres pounced and landed the best baseball player to hit free agency in a decade.
When the Chargers left for Los Angeles, they left a huge hole behind in San Diego. The Bolts had been a huge part of the city’s identity for 56 years and, in a flash, they vanished. As they have languished in Los Angeles and faded from memory in San Diego, sports fans in this town have been waiting for any glimmer of hope. With the Machado signing, we got it.
The Padres stepped up and went big, inking Machado to a baseball-record 10-year, $300 million free agent deal and in the process endeared itself to a city starved for a good sports story. Seriously, Fowler, Seidler and Preller have carte blanche in this town right now.
This move was about more than money, it was about owning the market and giving the franchise’s supporters something to prove their purpose. Fowler and Seidler know this city desperately needs a championship, and they aim to win one. Adding a 26-year-old perennial All-Star is a massive step in the right direction.
Over the past few years, Preller and his scouting team have built baseball’s best farm system, which is finally beginning to bear fruit. Last year they brought in Eric Hosmer to be the team’s clubhouse leader, and help draw other free agents. Hosmer pushed hard for the Machado deal and helped convince ownership it would be a great move. The pair are now the cornerstone of the franchise moving forward and give the team the star power it has lacked for years. They will soon be joined by top prospect Fernando Tatis Jr. and a fantastic crop of young pitchers who are on their way.
The future is bright for the Padres, no one doubts that. The Machado signing only accelerated their timetable.
Despite the baseball implications, this story isn’t one of a team landing a desirable player. This is about a franchise attempting to fill a massive void at the heart of its city. Unlike a now-departed franchise owned and run by a gaggle of incompetent boobs, the Padres sacrificed to give their fans what they wanted. In the end they’ll be rewarded with the kind of loyalty a franchise like that Chargers never deserved.
The Machado signing wasn’t about baseball. It was about the city of San Diego and providing its sports fans with a glimmer of hope for the first time in years.
It’s weird to be optimistic about a San Diego franchise, but damn does it feel good.