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Initial Thoughts on Manny Machado's $300 Million Free Agent Contract with the San Diego Padres
Baseball fans have been waiting patiently for one of the two big free agents (Bryce Harper and Manny Machado) this offseason to sign their free agent contract in order to open the proverbial floodgates in terms of market dollars available. Finally it happened today when Manny Machado (5.7 WAR last season) agreed in principle to a North American sports record breaking free agent contract for 10 years at $300 million with the San Diego Padres.
While the $300 million is ridiculous for anybody in baseball not named Mike Trout this could turn out to be a great deal for San Diego. Obviously Machado is more than happy to go play in San Diego for that kind of money but he's also happy because the Padres have a bright future. Currently the Padres have 10 of the top 92 prospects according to MLB.com and have the top ranked farm system. This includes the top shortstop prospect (#2 overall) in all of baseball in Fernando Tatis Jr. Machado prefers to play shortstop which he did last season with the Baltimore Orioles and Los Angeles Dodgers but he's a platinum glove defender at thirdbase. A left side of the infield with Machado and Tatis for the next 6 plus years all in their prime is going to be a lot of fun to watch if Tatis Jr. lives up to his expectations.
Machado is a future Hall of Fame player and only entering his age 26 season. Historically your prime baseball years are ages 26-29 so the Padres will be getting the cream of the crop in terms of production for 4 years from Machado. Right now Machado before he has entered his prime is averaging over 30 HRs a season and 90 RBIs. It's not out of the realm of possibility that those numbers should go up even if he is hitting the majority of his games in Petco Park, a traditional pitchers park. While I don't see Machado hitting 50 HRs a season it wouldn't shock me to see him start hitting in the 40's with his frame, swing, youth and approach at the plate.
Looking at the Padres as a whole right now at the MLB level would be foolish if you want to say signing Machado is a mistake for the organization. Last year the Padres signed free agent Eric Hosmer to a long term deal (8 years for $144 million). This year they sign Machado to play the opposite hot corner of the infield to a long term deal. And when you look at their top prospects it fills the inside of the diamond quite well.
2. Fernando Tatis Jr., SS
15. MacKenzie Gore, LHP
23. Luis Urias, 2B
26. Francisco Mejia, C
34. Chris Paddack, RHP
48. Luis Patino, RHP
49. Adrian Morejon, LHP
72. Michel Baez, RHP
74. Logan Allen, LHP
93. Ryan Weathers, LHP
You pair Machado and Hosmer (both in their 20's) who play gold glove caliber defense and obviously hit with power to team up with young studs Tatis Jr. and Luis Urias (both just entered their 20's) in the middle infield and you have the potential to have the best infield in the game for the next 5 years. At the catcher position you have Francisco Mejia who is only 22 and one of the top catcher prospects in baseball. And if you look at the pitchers just in the minors you got 7 of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball led by MacKenzie Gore (15th overall) and three other lefties to go along with the 3 righties. That's incredible balance for the Padres and their future.
Overall I give the signing of Machado an A- for the Padres. I think he was the best free agent on the market and I think he projects to have a much better career than Bryce Harper. Machado will play in a market in San Diego where he can be himself and not get crushed by the media and booed by the fans every time he lazily runs to first base. If the Padres can continue to develop their farm system it wouldn't shock me to see them at least go .500 this season and then look to be serious division contenders starting in 2020 for the next 5 plus seasons.
What do you think? Is Manny Machado worth $300 million for the Padres?
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40 Days Till MLB Opening Day! Get 40% OFF our SportsCrack.com Braves T-shirts this weekend
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Watch Hamidou Diallo Win The NBA Slam Dunk Contest by doing the impossible and dunking over Shaq
HAMIDOU DIALLO 🔥🔥🔥🔥pic.twitter.com/0jzl8R1ilj
— Matchup Brasil 🇧🇷 (@MatchupBR) February 17, 2019
Game. Set. Match.
OKC's Hamidou Diallo did the impossible. He jumped over Shaq. Now that is Superman shit right there.
This was a flawless dunk and basically won the dunk contest for Diallo over Dennis Smith Jr (who missed three times as many dunks as actually nailed).
Great job Hamidou "never heard of you before and will never hear of you again" Diallo and enjoy this while it lasts.
We all know who wins it next year.
ORDER THE OFFICIAL ZION SLAM DUNK SHIRT HERE
This year's V Day surprise includes Genie Bouchard wanting you to check out her cameltoe
Genie Bouchard, a 5'10 WTA stunning blonde tennis player from Canada, has been sliding down the WTA rankings recently (currently 80th) but she tries to make it up to all of us by doing an Instagram post. Let's take a look...
Real fucking funny there Bouchard. Shame on you. Not only is your tennis career going down the drain but you think you can make a funny on Instagram. Nobody wants to see a durka durka cameltoe. We want to see a French Canadian cameltoe and I'm not talking about some Mountie with a moose knuckle. You have 1.9 million bots/followers on Instawhore and you come out posting this garbage in Qatar of all places. We don't go to Instagram to see real life camels sweetheart. Be better. On and off the court.
Since I'm not a masochist I will save this blog with some "candid" photos of Bouchard before she tried to think she could make a funny on Instagram.
Yup totally candid...
This is the greatest Tom Brady GOAT Shirt Ever Made
Ignore all the other shirts. This is by far the greatest Tom Brady GOAT Shirt ever made. No question. Still here. Let's fucking go!
This AAF Helmet knocking hit might have just sold me on AAF
MY GOD pic.twitter.com/98FH9Zs3Iw
— nick (@nick_pants) February 10, 2019
Being completely transparent here I was planning on ignoring the debut of AAF this weekend. After 5 months of college football and the NFL ending last week I thought I needed a break from football for a while. After all I never watched Arena League football or the Canadian League so why would I start with some second rate football league started by a Notre Dame grad who's not only younger than me but didn't even play football?
Well shitfire I might need to change my mind asap after seeing this helmet hit. In the NFL this player would have probably been tarred and feathered but in the AAF this doesn't even draw a flag. Fuck CTE. Fuck head injuries. It doesn't matter in the AAF and it looks like we are getting some hard hitting football without flags. Sign me up.
This Ja Morant Block might be even better than the Zion Williamson Block
That Zion block was ridiculous. But this Ja Morant block almost doesn’t make sense. pic.twitter.com/0rtU0hbDul
— Bobby Reagan (@BarstoolReags) February 10, 2019
Everybody talks about Zion Williamson and his outlandish athletic ability on the basketball court but don't sleep on super sophomore Ja Morant from Murray State. Morant was an AAU teammate of Zion in high school out of South Carolina but was hardly recruited at all. In fact Morant wasn't even given a single star by Rivals.com. How the fuck is that even possible in today's world that Morant would be an unranked prospect? His only offers were from like East Bumblefuck State and Last Chance U before Murray State's assistant coach James Kane accidentally discovered Morant when he was recruiting one of his teammates in a basketball camp. Unbelievable that a player of Morant's athletic abilities could slip through the cracks. Now Ja is projected as a top 5 NBA Draft pick while averaging 24 points, 10 assists, and 5 rebounds a game as Murray State's point guard. He's gone from unranked prep prospect less than two years ago to future lottery pick who will be a multimillionaire.
Crazy.
And now we got Morant with the double block like it's no big deal. While it may not be as amazing Zion's block last night vs UVA it's still an incredible block. If you haven't had the chance to watch Morant play this year I highly recommend checking out Murray State. They could make a run in March Madness with Morant running point much like Davidson did years ago with Steph Curry.
Here are some more Ja Morant highlights...
This Must See Zion Williamson Block vs Virginia is one of those moments you will never forget
I think it goes without saying Duke's power forward freshman Zion Williamson is not from this planet. This year the true frosh Zion has displayed incredible dunking ability with nightly highlights on ESPN and social media. Last night vs 3rd ranked UVA he showed an incredible ability to fly through the air, this time on defense.
ZI🚫N BL🚫CK!
— ESPN (@espn) February 10, 2019
(📍 @TysonBrand) pic.twitter.com/wG7Y7h2LJ1
Pure basketball poetry in motion when you see Zion block the shot in slow motion. While soaring through the air like a god damn spider monkey Zion shows not only can he dunk with the best of them but his defense, which is often ignored, is at an elite level. Zion helped lead #2 Duke to a huge road win vs #3 UVA 81-71 and Coach K's Blue Devils should be the odds-on-favorite to win March Madness considering they have potentially the top 3 2019 NBA Draft picks (Zion, RJ Barrett, and Cam Reddish) who all happen to be diaper dandies.
By the way if you haven't purchased our original Zion Dunk t-shirt what are you waiting for?
Buy the Zion Slam Dunk T-Shirt here!
Atlanta Braves 2019 Chop On Promotion Video is missing a familiar face
Probably doesn't mean much of anything but after the last two off seasons in Atlanta seeing native son Dansby Swanson all over Braves promotions I couldn't help but notice his absence in the new "Chop On" promo. While Dansby hasn't exactly lighted up pitchers with his bat he still had a 2.3 WAR because his defense was top 10 in the National League. He's also a young face that sells tickets and while Ronald Acuna, Ozzie Albies and Freddie Freeman are all obviously bigger and more established stars it just seems a little curious why he would be omitted.
Anywho love the video. Always good to see the Jones boys put in there too.
Ranking the new MLB's proposed baseball rule changes
Yesterday news leaked MLB officials and the players are discussing some new rule changes for the game. If they are approved there would be some drastic changes to America's national past time that in my opinion have been way overdue.
Let's just assume all of the new baseball rules are approved. Here are my rankings from the best to the worst.
1. 3 batter minimum for all pitchers
I love this rule change. MLB teams are ruining the flow of the game by going to a different bullpen arm every other batter it seems. Every time the manager comes to the mound it delays the game, ruins the flow, and honestly makes the game more boring. This new rule would keep more starters in the game and not go to the bullpen in the 5th or 6th inning. It would also help save some arms. Right now teams are burning out their relievers arms by pitching them nearly every day or every other day. I don't need to see 6-7 pitchers a game. I want to see guys hitting and not striking out every other at bat to right and lefty specialists out of the pen.
2. A universal designated hitter
This should have been implemented years ago. I don't want to see pitchers hit because the majority of them can't hit. It's beyond stupid that the National League still has pitchers hit and don't give me this strategy bull shit. There is no strategy walking the 8th batter to pitch to a limp dick batter who's only job should be to get hitters out. We don't ask our QB to kick FGs. Do don't ask our goaltenders to score on breakaways. And we don't ask our point guards to play center. Why the fuck would we ask our best pitchers to get hits off MLB pitchers? It's dumb and it ruins the entertainment of baseball. Give me Edgar Martinez and Big Papi at-bats over watching Clayton Kershaw and Chris Sale swinging blind folded and lolly gag it down the base paths because they don't want to exhaust their legs for pitching off the bump.
3. One trade deadline
This is just common sense. Why there are two trade deadlines right now doesn't even make sense. Make it July 31st or August 31st. I don't care which one as long as it's only one date. I don't need to know who clears waivers like it's some fucking deep dark secret that only MLB officials know. Everybody is eligible to be traded and hopefully that includes future draft picks.
4. Roster expansion and limits
The new rosters would expand from 25 to 26 which would help with additional designated hitters in both leagues. Also it would limit the roster expansion to 28 instead of 40 in September. Sounds good to me. I don't need to see a bunch of bums play in September to tank the rest of the season. Speaking of which..
5. Draft advantages for winning teams; penalties for tanking
From what I've read it means low revenue teams who win by finishing .500 and better or even make the playoffs receive a better draft position or bonus pool for draft picks. Watching teams tank it sucks for fans. Anything to encourage against it or even award teams for not doing it is good in my book.
6. Bring back major league contracts to entice two-sport amateurs
I get it that baseball is worried about losing some stars like Kyler Murray to football because they only sign a minor league contract when drafted. But there aren't many Kylers out there and he is the exception to the rule.
7. 20-second pitch clock
Not sure how much of a difference it really would make. What's the penalty if you don't throw it within 20 seconds? I get it that baseball wants to speed up the game and I have no problem with that but you gotta make sure the batters are in the box too so the pitchers are allowed to throw. Plus if you implement the 3-batter minimum for pitchers it will already cut down the length of the game so I don't think a pitch clock is overly important.
8. A study to lower the mound
Fuck no. Leave the mound where it is. It's fine. Don't overthink it.
