Manny Machado Rumors: Padres Remain Engaged in Contract Talks Despite Star’s Comments | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

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Padres star third baseman Manny Machado and the organization remain in talks about a new contract that’ll likely keep the 30-year-old in San Diego for the rest of his career, according to a report by The Athletic’s Dennis Lin.

Machado, who set a Feb. 16 deadline for the Padres to offer him a contract extension, is reportedly still trying to work toward a new deal as he wants to stay with the club long-term.

He has the option to opt out of his 10-year contract with the organization following this season.

“Deadlines are deadlines,” Machado said. “But they know where I stand. The opportunity will arise if it comes to that. You know, nothing’s out of question. Obviously, they know how much San Diego means to me and what I want to be here. At the end of the day, they knew exactly where I was when that deadline was set. And we’ll see what happens. Our main focus right now is playing baseball. We’ll see.”

Machado who arrived to San Diego in 2019, still has six years and $180 million left on his 10-year, $300 million deal that he signed when he first joined the organization. He was offered a five-year, $105 million extension by the Padres earlier this year, per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, which would have brought his remaining compensation to 11 years, $285 million.

He made $30 million in 2022, according to Spotrac.

However, he wants a more lucrative deal after seeing the types of deals given to other star players such as Aaron Judge ($360 million) and Trea Turner ($300 million).

Padres owner Peter Seidler said on 97.3 The Fan the six-time All-Star is his top priority this season. Seidler has never been shy about spending money to retain and acquire stars, most recently Joe Musgrove, Xander Bogaerts and Yu Darvish.

Machado deserves that type of treatment considering his performance since coming to town. He helped lead the organization to its first postseason appearance in 14 years in 2020.

He then was a key piece on the 2022 team that gave the franchise its first NLCS appearance of the 21st century, with the Padres last reaching those heights in 1998.

In 2022, Machado led San Diego in basically every single offensive category, hitting 32 homers with 102 RBIs while batting .298/.366/.538.