Buster Olney of ESPN just reported that the White Sox’ current offer to free agent Manny Machado is for seven years and $175 million.
Buster frames that information as a question: if that’s the best offer Machado receives, would the Yankees jump back into the bidding, which they seem to have abandoned. I think the better question is “if this is the best offer Machado has right now, why aren’t there a dozen or more teams trying to beat it?” Because 7/$175 million for a player of Machado’s age and talents is a stone cold bargain.
That deal breaks down to $25 million a year, which at present — unless I’m missing someone — would tie him for the 13th-highest annual salary in baseball. Guys making more than that include Jason Heyward, Albert Pujols, Jon Lester, Felix Hernandez Yoenis Cespedes, David Price and Jake Arrieta. To say that Machado, who is 26 years-old, puts up near-MVP offensive numbers and plays a premium defensive position passably and an important defensive position excellently, is not worth substantially more than that is insane talk. To say that he’s nor worth more than seven years given how old he is now is equally insane.
This deal could be beat with fewer years and the same money, disposing of the alleged fear teams have of offering a player a contract that is too long. It could be beat with a longer contract and less of an annual outlay which makes the risk of a long deal — that it might financially hamstring a club — nonexistent. There is no team that could not afford Machado at this price and hardly any teams who would not be improved by his presence.
If this is where the bidding for Machado tops out, something is very, very broken in baseball’s labor market. Possibly intentionally so. Short of that, there is no rational reason whatsoever that only two or three teams would be in on that action.
