Machado: Padres only made me 1 extension offer before my deadline
The San Diego Padres' early efforts to extend Manny Machado have hit a wall.
The Padres tabled their lone extension offer to Machado two days before his self-imposed deadline of Feb. 16 - the reporting date for spring training, he told Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune on Saturday.
San Diego's offer was a five-year extension worth $21 million per season, reports Acee.
Machado refused to comment on the reported terms of the deal but said he set the Feb. 16 deadline in December, before the winter meetings began.
On Friday, Machado announced he plans to opt out of his deal at the end of this season.
"I just wanted to focus on baseball. So once the season started, I didn't want to really continue talking about contracts or the business side of things," Machado told Acee. "I just want to focus on my team and the guys in here and what our goal is - to win a championship. So (Thursday) was our deadline."
Since arriving in San Diego, Machado has emerged as a leader and face of the franchise on and off the field. He was an NL MVP finalist in two of his four seasons in brown and gold, including a second-place finish last year, and was one of the Padres' best playoff performers during last October's run to the NLCS.
Padres owner Peter Seidler has been open about his desire to retain Machado, but he'll face stiff competition for that right if the 30-year-old hits the open market. Machado will be the top free agent position player available next winter and should easily exceed the $150 million owed to him over the final five years of his current contract.
The small-market Padres continued their lavish spending this winter, signing star shortstop Xander Bogaerts to an 11-year, $280-million deal and then keeping Yu Darvish on a $108-million extension last week. They also heavily pursued both Trea Turner and Aaron Judge in the offseason.
Keeping Machado on another long-term deal will likely require some difficult decisions for president of baseball operations A.J. Preller. Superstar outfielder Juan Soto is only two years away from free agency and will command his own exorbitant salary.
The Padres' 2023 payroll is already more than $39 million above the luxury-tax threshold, per Cot's Contracts.