Kim Ha-seong (28, San Diego Padres) and close friend Manny Machado (31) announced that they would exercise an opt-out after the end of the 2023 season.
Machado met local reporters at the San Diego spring camp held in Peoria, Arizona on the 18th (Korean time) and said, 카지노 “I am in San Diego now, but I don’t know what will happen next year.” The club knows the situation I am in,” he said.
He added, “The market is changing. It’s a lot different from five years ago (when Machado signed a long-term deal with San Diego). There’s money in the market. It’s good to see players who are about to exercise their opt-out rights.”
Machado signed a 10-year, $300 million free agent contract with San Diego ahead of the 2019 season. It was a contract that received $30 million (about 39.1 billion won) annually from the second year of the contract, and included an opt-out clause that allowed him to become a free agent after the 2023 season.
Machado played in 519 games for San Diego over the past four seasons, posting a batting average of 0.280, 108 homers, 340 RBIs and an OPS of 0.856.
In particular, in the 2022 season, he played 150 games, batting average of 0.298, 32 home runs, 102 RBIs, and OPS of 0.897, and he ranked second after Paul Goldschmidt (St. Louis Cardinals) in the National League Most Valuable Player (MVP) vote. In addition, he is well known to Korean baseball fans as a best friend who takes good care of Kim Ha-seong, taking on the role of atmosphere maker and clubhouse leader in the team.
Recently, major league clubs have also increased their spending. Cases of major players signing mega-contracts are increasing.
Aaron Judge, who broke the American League home run record last year (62), signed a 9-year, $360 million contract with the New York Yankees, and Trey Turner (Philadelphia Phillies, 11 years, $30 million) also succeeded in signing a long-term contract. In line with this trend, San Diego also invested a lot of money and recruited Xander Bogarts (11 years, $280 million). He also tied ace Darvish Yu to $180 million over six years.
Machado also wants to be treated like this. He wants a 10-year contract once again. “I hope so. It’s a business matter,” he stressed.
San Diego is pursuing a new contract extension in preparation for Machado’s departure. Director Bob Melvin was optimistic. He was sure of his extension, saying “We have shown our willingness to keep important players, and I’m sure good things will happen with Machado. I don’t want to think about what it would be like without him.”