I'm Not So Sure That Manny Machado Made The Right Choice

Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated

Would you rather have a 10 year deal worth $300 million guaranteed or an 8 year deal with $250 million guaranteed and incentives that could push the contract to $350 million? Because that’s apparently what Manny Machado turned down from the Chicago White Sox according to Ken Rosenthal to take the San Diego Padres offer of $300/10 years.

Second source says total value of #WhiteSox offer could have reached $350M if all options were vested and every incentive was reached. But Machado, as believed all along, wanted the $300M guarantee. https://t.co/EXd83w2Xkt

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) February 19, 2019

Apparently to Machado it’s all about the guaranteed money and not so much about having to actually earn the contract. And who can really blame him, but if I’m being honest I feel like White Sox deal was far better. To start White Sox contract is slightly more annually than the Padres deal, and when I mean slightly we are talking $31.25 million vs $30 million a year. So yeah not that big of a difference. But the White Sox deal is also only 8 years so that would mean that Manny becomes a free agent again at 34, which is starting to get up there in age but he could easily get more deals after 34 if he’s just an average player. Worse case scenario under the White Sox deal, he hits no incentives(which would be incredibly unlikely) and then maybe plays 2-3 years after that deal and only makes an additional $20 million. That is the absolute worst case scenario that he ends up only making $270 million over his career. Best case scenario, he hits most all the incentives and then plays an additional 4-5 years after the contract and makes an additional $75 million which would put him in the range of $425 million. Worst case scenario you come up $30 million short of the Padres deal, best case you crush it with over a $125 million more than the Padres deal. As you can see the upside of the White Sox deal definitely outweighs the Padres deal. All you have to do is believe in yourself to be a good baseball player over the next 10 years and obviously Manny doesn’t feel that way about himself. Of course we are talking about the same guy who publicly said he’s not a hustle guy. So what do you guys think, did he make the right choice?