San Diego Padres

San Diego Padres minor leaguer Fernando Tatis Jr., who is ranked second on MLB Pipeline's top-100 prospect list, will reportedly get an Opening Day call to the bigs.

Dennis Lin of The Athletic reported the news on the 20-year-old shortstop, who had 16 home runs, 43 RBI and a .286/.355/.507 slash line for the Double-A San Antonio Missions last season.

Tatis has smacked two home runs and slashed .241/.317/.444 in 54 spring training at-bats.

It's a pleasant surprise that the Padres opted against using the service-time rule to their advantage. The Padres could have held Tatis in the minors long enough for him to be unable to accrue a year of service in the majors, which would have delayed his free agency for an extra year down the road. MLB.com provides more details on the service-time stipulation:

"A player is deemed to have reached 'one year' of Major League service upon accruing 172 days in a given year. Upon reaching six years of Major League service, a player becomes eligible for free agency at the end of that season (unless he has already signed a contract extension that covers one or more of his free-agent seasons)."

With Tatis reportedly starting on Opening Day, the clock starts now on his big league career.

Kevin Acee of San Diego Union-Tribune explained the Friars' rationale behind making the move:

Fernando Tatis Jr. has made the team.#Padres believe he's ready and makes them the best possible team.

— Kevin Acee (@sdutKevinAcee) March 27, 2019

And Kyle Glaser of Baseball America noted how fervent the Padres have been in advancing their prospects through the minors:

Padres have been very aggressive moving guys through the minors (they had many of the youngest players at each level) and now that is transitioning to the majors. Tatis and Paddack both skipping over Triple-A, had less than a full season at Double-A

— Kyle Glaser (@KyleAGlaser) March 27, 2019

Who can really blame the Padres for bringing up a player capable of doing this on a baseball field?

.@tatis_jr really just scored from first on a single to center... #BeGreater pic.twitter.com/b3h2e0x3Eo

— MLB (@MLB) March 23, 2019

MLB.com reporter/editor Sarah Langs explained that Tatis is the youngest player to be on an Opening Day roster in 20 years, or the vast majority of the new Padres shortstop's life:

Fernando Tatis Jr. will be 20 years, 85 days old on Opening Day.

The last player that young to play on Opening Day was Adrian Beltre in 1999, at age 19 years, 363 days old.

Tatis was born in January 1999.

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) March 27, 2019

Tatis figures to start at shortstop alongside new third baseman Manny Machado, the four-time All-Star who signed a 10-year deal with San Diego in the offseason.

Those two could potentially lead San Diego to its first World Series since 1998. That time doesn't figure to be 2019, but the Padres have seven of MLB Pipeline's top 50 prospects. That list includes pitcher Chris Paddack, who also made the Opening Day roster.

Down the road, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Machado and that group lead the Padres to their first championship in franchise history.

Villains don't come to San Diego. Surfers, yes. And sandcastle builders. Tourists. But...villains?

On a back field at the Padres' complex, Manny Machado certainly doesn't look like a bad guy. From third base, he uncorks a sidearm fling to Eric Hosmer at first, followed by a snappy comment about his lethal arm that makes Hosmer bust out laughing before coach Glenn Hoffman slaps the next infield ground ball into the spring morning.

Surrounded by top prospects like Fernando Tatis Jr. and Hudson Potts, Machado peppers bits of advice into the daily drills, schooling Tatis on how to come around on a ground ball to get a better throwing angle and Potts on how he can handle certain hops more easily with nuanced glove placement.

The point is to work smarter by firming up the small things. Machado does not preach and he is not pushy. Maybe you've heard, he does things his way and lets the chips fall where they may. For him, it's led to four All-Star Games, two Gold Gloves, a World Series appearance and, now, the $300 million deal many thought he might have kicked away with his head-scratching October.

That he got the $300 million, though, was not nearly as shocking as where it came from. San Diego hasn't made the playoffs since 2006 and has in recent years served more as a retirement home for vintage players past their prime—Greg Maddux, David Wells, Orlando Hudson, Matt Kemp and more—than a magnet for big-time free agents.

Even with a fleet of hot young prospects who have made the club's farm system the consensus best in the game—Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, FanGraphs and ESPN all rate San Diego as No. 1—conventional thinking had the Padres going nowhere near such an expensive and exotic talent who could, gasp, become a wicked influence on such naive and impressionable young minds.

"It's a matter of teaching them, hey, little things turn into big things at the end of the day," Machado explains. "They turn into championships and Gold Gloves, all the accolades you could get.

"Little things like that are going to lead to them being better. At the end of the day, I just want to help them be the best players they can."

Five months after he told the world that he's no Johnny Hustle, and after the Milwaukee Brewers' Christian Yelich called him a "dirty player" for kicking first baseman Jesus Aguilar's foot as he crossed the bag during last fall's National League Championship Series, Machado, 26, now is a hired gun in a new locale without the wanted posters.

"I said what I said, obviously, but I definitely regret saying it," Machado says. "It was misunderstood, in a way. Obviously, I've played my game, I've shown what I can do on the ballfield. Let your game speak for itself and go about your business."

In rare public glimpses, Machado reveals a human side that he buries during competition. It is an aspect that largely was ignored last autumn as the decorum vigilantes gathered en masse, neglecting to remember during the loafing lectures that he played in all 162 games in 2018 for the second time in four years and that his 637 games played and 2,808 plate appearances from 2015 to '18 lead the majors. And that he's come back from major surgeries on both knees early in his career.

"Look, in baseball, how it's ultimately perceived is how you move forward," Hall of Famer Jim Thome says. "There are things where you maybe feel I shouldn't have said that, and I wasn't there to listen to the [Johnny Hustle] interview, but it's how we move forward in the game.

"He's got a chance to go to San Diego and ... make an impact on how [he is] perceived as a leader. Think about it. They brought him over there to be that guy."

Thome's words are important because, early in Machado's career in Baltimore, it was Thome doing for Machado what Machado is doing now, dispensing guidance and wisdom to his younger teammates. "We're trying to be a world-class team and he's a huge part of that equation," says second baseman Ian Kinsler, another veteran the Padres signed this winter.

"He plays hard. He plays with an edge. That's what you need to be successful. None of that stuff bothers us in here. He's our teammate now. We have his back. That's how he plays the game, and hopefully it rubs off on everyone in here."

Celebrating their 50th anniversary season, the Padres know that for far too long they have been viewed as a soft team in a soft market that has served mostly as a punching bag. They'd like to change that perception, and Machado's edge is a key.

---

The sepia-toned story has lasted for decades, and it is oh-so inspiring: Joe DiMaggio is early in the final season of his Hall of Fame career in 1951, mid-30s stiff, everything an effort, when a reporter one day asks why, with all he's done in his brilliant career, he still never, ever takes a play off during a game.

Because, DiMaggio responds, "there is always some kid who may be seeing me play for the first or last time. I owe him my best."

It is the stuff of lore that grows players from the past into Paul Bunyan-esque legends. But DiMaggio wasn't on television all 162 games each season (in fact, the schedule was only 154 games then, and he played in every game only once). Fans couldn't dial up his exploits 24 hours a day on the internet. There may even have been a time or two that he hit a routine grounder to shortstop on a scorching hot July day and...didn't sprint full-on to first base. And because nobody outside of Yankee Stadium saw it, maybe it just sort of...went away?

Machado—and the rest of today's players—do not enjoy that luxury.

"There's not many guys on the planet who can relate to batting third or fourth and playing in 150 games a year," says Andrew Miller, the relief ace now pitching for St. Louis. "It's a pretty limited number of people who know what it takes to do that, and he's actually one of them.

"Sometimes guys carry themselves in different ways. Robinson Cano has been buried for that his entire career and yet at the end of the day he plays hard all the time and everybody would take him. Not everyone looks like Dustin Pedroia, or whoever the other end of the spectrum is.

"Any way you cut it, star players who can play almost every day, they're a rare breed."

Miller spent the final two months of 2014 with Machado after a July 31 trade. When Miller arrived in Baltimore, he found that among the many things he needed to adjust to, finding a pair of orange and black cleats the Orioles required then would be one of his more difficult tasks. Machado, then just 21, was the first man to approach Miller and offer an extra pair of his spikes.

"As a new guy coming in, you're begging for people to make you comfortable," Miller says. "A relief pitcher and a starting third baseman, honestly, there's not a lot of overlap. But he was really welcoming to me. It was really generous."

It is the kind of thoughtfulness his old Orioles teammates routinely experienced. Kevin Gausman, now in Atlanta's rotation, talks appreciatively of how Machado regularly went out of his way to say hello to Gausman's father whenever he was around the club without fanfare. Gausman, in fact, didn't even realize it until this offseason when his father brought it up in the midst of the Machado backlash.

But when it's Game On...the manners recede. For a time in Baltimore, Machado battled his good friend, second baseman Jonathan Schoop, in legendary clubhouse chess matches. Chess, pool, pingpong...you name it, everyone knew Machado would do anything to win. And during games, Gausman would hear the two friends good-naturedly chirping at each other behind him, Machado bragging after a good throw that Schoop couldn't have made with his weaker arm, or Schoop after a homer making sure Machado knew just how far it went.

That inner drive served Machado well early in his career while he overcame devastating injuries. His knees always had been temperamental, he says, the result of being born with shallow grooves on his kneecaps. He had dislocated his left kneecap in rookie ball during his first month as a professional in 2010. Then, while crossing the first base bag hustling to beat out an infield ground ball at Tropicana Field in September 2013, he crumpled to the ground in agony.

Machado fought back from reconstructive surgery on his left knee, only to wreck his right knee while swinging during an at-bat the next August. The same surgery was performed on that right knee as on the left a year earlier.

"Those definitely changed my perspective on things a lot," Machado says. "It's something you learn from. I'm sort of grateful I had to go through that process because it made me the person I am today."

Meeting Thome as a 19-year-old rookie in August 2012 also shaped him. Thome had been acquired as a veteran bat that June and immediately impressed upon Machado the importance of a consistent routine in game preparation.

"Then Nelson Cruz comes a couple of years later [2014] and kind of says the same thing," Machado says. "We called Nelson our father. We kind of [got] under his wing, start working out, cage work, massage after, recovery to get ready for the game tomorrow. Those little things like that you learn, it takes your game to another level."

It's why today Thome and Cruz remain sacred touchstones to him.

"Because if I would have prepared better my first year as a rookie and gotten a lot stronger throughout the year, maybe [the injuries] wouldn't have happened," he says. "Probably, because of how my knees were, they would have, but I could have at least prevented a little more.

"I was young at the time. I wasn't in the weight room. I wasn't doing all the little things to take care of my body. That's why now I'm really into it. It's why I try to help out the younger guys. Hey, it don't matter that you're 20 or 19, or 36 or 37. Baseball is a grind every day, and that's why you need to take care of your body."

That the injuries played so big a role in Machado's early career makes you wonder if the memories of them play a role when he periodically moves into, ahem, conservation mode?

"No," Machado answers. "It's just how I've always played since I was in the minor leagues. ... You don't necessarily pick and choose where you do it, but you do get wise and you get smarter as the years go on. Last year I played through October, and it's a grind. It's not easy."

After the Aguilar incident, for which Machado was fined $10,000 by MLB, retired pitcher LaTroy Hawkins, who ranks in the top 10 all-time in games pitched, dialed up video of Machado's first knee injury while trying to make sense of it because "I love watching Manny play, so when that incident happened, I immediately thought about his leg injury." Hawkins noticed that Machado stepped on the outside of the first base bag when the knee gave out and wondered whether he maybe makes it a point now to not step on the outside of the bag, but instead to step closer to the middle of the bag.

Machado, who says he's never seen the grotesque replay and goes out of his way to avoid it, pauses momentarily when he hears this.

"That's interesting," he says. "I have no idea ... I guess it maybe could be something mental. ... They say to run on the dirt, but I kind of run on the [infield] grass because of my swing. I have that long follow-through, so ... I have to deviate and try to come back to the base path.

"It's something I'm going to have to look into ... because people do say when you get injured, you [subconsciously change things] in the back of your mind. ... It could be."

---

Over a nearly five-hour lunch in Miami in early February, drinking cafe con leche and munching on fried yucca with mojo sauce and pork chunks, Padres general manager A.J. Preller and Manny and his wife, Yainee, covered these subjects and more.

Machado jokes that the lunch probably went on a little too long. He remembers Preller arriving armed with a notebook full of prepared questions and freelancing others.

"We talked about some of the things from the past and, obviously, last October, and the biggest thing that stuck out was Manny understanding," Preller says. "We talked about those things openly. His perception of different events and things that happened in October, and the biggest thing to me was he's learned from it.

"We didn't get into judgment of right or wrong or anything like that because, as an organization, everybody is going to make mistakes. That's what I tried to share with him. Everybody in an organization is going to make mistakes. We want the environment where you feel comfortable understanding that, but then, how do you learn from those mistakes? From your different experiences?"

These are questions Machado has faced throughout his life, since he braved the Metrorail alone at 12 or 13 for rides of up to an hour through downtrodden neighborhoods to various Miami baseball fields. They intensified once he reached the majors, especially during an ugly bench-clearing incident against Oakland (2014), a brawl with Kansas City (2016) and a dangerous back-and-forth of aggressive plays against Boston (2017). Throughout, his hometown support system, particularly brother-in-law Yonder Alonso—Yainee is Yonder's sister—and veteran outfielder Jon Jay, an older brother of sorts at 34, advised and mentored him.

The conversations continued this winter after Machado's sudden emergence as Public Enemy No. 1, though in a different vein.

"I can't put myself in his shoes as far as being drafted at 17 and pretty much knowing from the time you're 14 years old that you're going to be a big leaguer," says Jay, who prefers to keep the specifics of his talks with Machado private. "Not many people grow up like that. Those are the LeBron Jameses, the Kobe Bryants, these special talents that you just know.

"You see him in the cage and know this guy's going to be in the big leagues. The pressure and expectations that come with that, it's not easy. We all continue to mature."

Alonso's preferred tack was simply to give Machado space and focus on family, not baseball, this winter. Knowing the kind of person his brother-in-law is, Alonso says, made it "pointless" for him even to talk about the raging events of October.

"Our family is very tight," says Alonso, who, like Jay, was acquired by Chicago this winter as the White Sox wooed Machado. "Our family knows what happens inside our house, under our roof. We don't pay attention to all that white noise. We don't pay attention to all the criticism. We live a positive life. We live a life that's very wonderful and happy and we don't dwell on all that negativity."

As Preller says, everybody makes mistakes. But time and again, Machado has shown he learns from his miscues.

Back in 2014, coming off his left knee surgery and just before he injured his right knee, Machado was hitting just .216 as the Orioles arrived in Houston. When he didn't run hard on an infield ground ball, Baltimore first base coach Wayne Kirby had seen enough and delivered a stern lecture.

"Manny," Kirby told him. "My son looks up to you every day. Every kid in this ballpark looks up to you every day. They expect you to hustle because you're on camera all the time. So give me 100 percent of what you've got. Even if it's 100 percent of 75 percent, or 65 percent, give me that and you can hold your head up."

Now living in Las Vegas, Kirby offers a vigorous endorsement of everything Manny—as a man, as a teammate and as a competitor. Still, to Kirby, last October wasn't a revelation. Machado always has had his, shall we say, casual Friday moments. But the rest of the package usually eclipses them.

"That young team over there better watch out, because he's going to be ready to compete," Kirby says. "Tatis Jr., he's going to have to compete every day. Because Manny will be like, 'I'm still the Man, arm-wise and everything.' He'll do anything for you, anything you need to be done: Sign autographs, sign bats, he don't mess around. He'll do it.

"And he was starting to become a leader. It takes time to become a leader."

That young team needs it.

"We have a lot of young guys, and guys need to hear a different voice," says Eric Hosmer, San Diego's big free-agent addition last offseason. "They hear it from me all the time, and from a lot of coaches. But now a lot of people look up to Manny in this game, and when they hear it from his voice, it's a strong message.

"For Tatis, it couldn't be a better setup. You see him and Manny at shortstop and third base, and it looks like Manny from 10 years ago and Manny now. I think it's going to speed up Tatis' development because Tatis checks all the boxes."

From that lunch in Miami until now, what the Padres have emphasized to Machado is simply, "Be yourself. Don't try to be somebody you're not."

"Be comfortable," Preller says. "And we talked about how we can get the other players to complement him and understand this isn't going to be a one-man show. You need a lot of good players to win. We have a lot of good pieces here in this building."

Sometimes, even villains can become heroes in the end, you know.

     

Scott Miller covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report. Follow Scott on Twitter and talk baseball. 

You either retire a hero or play long enough to see yourself become the villain, and according to Manny Machado, he has already entered villain territory.

While speaking with Joel Sherman of the New York Post on Friday, the San Diego Padres' new third baseman said: "I always will be the villain, no matter what. I don't know why. That is just stuff I have to deal with, and I have to be OK dealing with that situation. That doesn't bother me."

Machado painted an even larger target on his back when he signed a 10-year, $300 million contract with the Padres on Feb. 21. However, Machado told Sherman that he doesn't view his San Diego era as a chance to reinvent himself. 

Machado made it clear that his time as a Padre is going to be about "me being me."

So far, Padres fans are embracing Machado for exactly who he is according to increased ticket sales. Just two weeks after Machado officially landed in San Diego, president of business operations Erik Greupner told Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com that the team had seen nearly $3 million worth of additional ticket revenue. 

While Machado admitted to Sherman that the Padres weren't his "first choice" at the beginning of his free agency, but the team ultimately "showed me the love." How he is being embraced by fans initially seems to reflect the love Machado felt from the front office.

How Machado is received once the season starts and the pressure is on, however, is what will matter. Will he be the hero who brings San Diego a World Series or the villain who couldn't justify his record-breaking contract? 

San Diego Padres president of business operations Erik Greupner told Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com that the team has pulled in almost $3 million in additional ticket revenue since the team inked third baseman Manny Machado to a deal two weeks ago.

The 26-year-old Machado had 37 home runs and 107 RBI in 162 games for the Baltimore Orioles and Los Angeles Dodgers last season. Naturally, the four-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove winner should be a major attraction for a fanbase that hasn't seen a winning season since 2010 or a playoff appearance since 2006.

Machado, who signed a 10-year, $300 million contract with San Diego, is on a team with a bright future. Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report ranked San Diego's farm system No. 1 in the bigs.

MLB.com lists the Padres at No. 1 as well, with 10 players ranked on its list of the top 100 prospects. Shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. is No. 2 overall, and MLB.com gives him an estimated MLB time of arrival of 2019. Provided he makes the leap this season, the Padres' left side of the infield could be garnering a lot of ticket revenue well into the 2020s.

San Diego likely isn't winning it all next year, and a postseason berth will be tough. Cracking the top two in the National League West will be hard since the 2018 NL champion Los Angeles Dodgers and 2018 NL playoff participant Colorado Rockies both look strong for 2019, too.

The Padres aren't projected to do that well this season—FanGraphs has them at 79-83, for example—but fans have more reason to be excited now than at any other time this decade. With Machado locked in through the 2020s and a crop of stars expecting to arrive soon, it's clear some fans want to jump on the bandwagon now before it starts getting fuller.

The San Diego Padres made a big splash earlier this month when they signed Manny Machado. 

They never got close to landing the winter's other big free-agent name.

Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported the Padres never made a formal offer to Harper. The two sides never got past a "proposal," which Harper declined.

The Padres and Machado agreed last week on a 10-year, $300 million contract that is the richest free-agent deal in North American sports history. There was some speculation the Padres could throw their hat into the ring on Harper as well, but that appears unfounded. It was already a surprise that the small-market Padres made such a splash with Machado; adding Harper too seemed farfetched.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants and Philadelphia Phillies are among the teams interested in Harper. It's expected he will sign a deal that eclipses Machado's $300 million pact.

Representatives from the Dodgers, Phillies and other unnamed teams met with Harper and agent Scott Boras over the weekend in Las Vegas. 

Harper, 26, hit .249/.393/.496 with 34 home runs and 100 runs batted in last season. It was a bit of a disappointment given the expectation of an MVP-caliber year but still enough for his fourth straight All-Star appearance. He has a wins above replacement of 3.0 or better in each of the last four seasons and six of the last seven. 

After hitting one home run by signing Manny Machado, the San Diego Padres are reportedly not going to take another big swing on Dallas Keuchel.

Per Jon Heyman of MLB Network, the Padres "don't see a fit" with Keuchel even though they do want to add a starting pitcher before the season begins.

Heyman did mention the Philadelphia Phillies as a potential landing spot for Keuchel. Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported in late January the Milwaukee Brewers have been "loosely" connected to the 2015 American League Cy Young Award winner.

Keuchel has had a quiet offseason while waiting to find a home.

The Padres would make sense for a veteran like the 31-year-old, especially since their expectations have surely risen in the wake of their 10-year, $300 million deal with Machado. Their starting rotation ranked last in the National League with a 5.09 ERA and 822 innings in 2018.

Per ESPN.com's Buster Olney, Keuchel's agent, Scott Boras, told teams early in the offseason that his client was searching for a deal of six or seven years with an average annual salary in the range of $25-30 million.

Keuchel spent his first seven seasons with the Houston Astros. He started a career-high 34 games in 2018, finishing with a 3.74 ERA and 153 strikeouts in 204.2 innings.

The 10-year marriage between Manny Machado and the San Diego Padres was made official on Friday in Peoria, Arizona, where the Padres' spring training has already begun.

Machado met with a room of reporters alongside Padres general manager A.J. Preller and gave voice as to why San Diego is set to be his new home through 2028. "I liked the game plan, from ownership to front office to the coaching staff to the players," Machado said, according to ESPN.com's Jesse Rogers. "The whole 'shabam' was so perfect."

What seemed perfect to Machado at first seemed like a "pipe dream" to Preller, who recalled a morning at winter meetings when it dawned on him to go after Machado: 

"I called [assistant GM] Josh Stein at about 5 in the morning and said, 'Let's just sign Machado. Let's go do this.' It was probably more of a pipe dream at that point in time, but as we went through the winter, and he was still there in January, I started looking at our ability to do something from a payroll standpoint."

Now, in February and beyond, the Padres' payroll will include Machado's 10-year, $300 million pact—the largest free-agent deal in American sports history.

The question now pivots from where Machado will land to how he and his new team will perform.

The Padres are coming off a 66-96 finish in 2018, extending their streak of losing seasons to eight. Prior to the 2018 season, the Padres gave what was the largest contract in franchise history at the time to first baseman Eric Hosmer.

Hosmer's eight-year, $144 million contract now pales in comparison to Machado's, but the two together at Petco Park bring hope to a franchise that previously was waiting for its farm system to become big league ready.

Now, that No. 1-ranked farm system—in theory—has a proven foundation to stand on in Hosmer and Machado. Hosmer's first season with the Padres after his megadeal was subpar. The Padres can only hope history doesn't repeat itself with a 26-year-old Machado.

Rogers also noted the Padres' awareness that the timing of Machado's contract wasn't ideal because their minor league prospects are still developing.

However, Machado's willingness to play third base "from the start," per MLB Network's Jon Heyman, will leave shortstop open for "phenom" Fernando Tatis Jr. when he's ready.

Machado will be throwing outs across the diamond to Hosmer instead of his brother-in-law Yonder Alonso in Chicago, which he addressed at his press conference.

"Would be a dream to play with family," Machado said of the White Sox first baseman. "Things happen. ... I'm proud to be a Padre. At the end of the day, this is where I wanted to be, and I'm very happy to be here."

The White Sox offered Machado an eight-year, $250 million guaranteed contract with the possibility to be worth $350 million through incentives. Chicago's front office was shocked when Machado declined.

Padres executive chairman Ron Fowler told reporters the Padres are "a lot happier than the White Sox right now." Only time and Machado's production will tell which franchise lucked out.

Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union Tribune reported on Wednesday that the San Diego Padres asked Delaware North, the vendor that sells the jerseys in the Petco Park team store, to remove Manny Machado jerseys from the racks until the team's new third baseman is officially on board.

Per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, Machado agreed to a 10-year, $300 million deal with the team.

Acee noted that Machado still needs to pass a Thursday physical for the "insurer protecting the Padres' $300 million investment." The four-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove winner has already taken the team physical.

Per Acee, the team plans to hold a Friday morning press conference to introduce its new star.

If you're an enterprising fan hoping that an online vendor is selling the new Padres jersey in advance, it looks like you're out of luck as of Wednesday evening.

Discount Baltimore Orioles and Los Angeles Dodgers Machado jerseys can be found, however.

If the San Diego Padres finalize their reported deal with Manny Machado, they figure to be a bigger factor in the National League West in 2019. 

Per ESPN's Doug Kezirian, Westgate SuperBook has the Machado signing increasing San Diego's World Series odds from 80-1 to 50-1. Meanwhile, its over-under win total jumps from 76.5 to 79.5.

Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported on Tuesday that Machado and the Padres have come to an agreement on a 10-year, $300 million contract, the largest free-agent deal in North American sports history. Yahoo Sports' Tim Brown added that the deal will include an opt-out after five years.

After news of an agreement broke, though, San Diego executive chairman Ron Fowler told The Athletic's Dennis Lin that a deal had yet to be finalized and that the two sides are "continuing discussions."

It may be too early for Padres fans to officially celebrate, but all signs point to a deal getting done. And what a boost it'd be for San Diego.

Machado is coming off a season in which he earned his fourth career All-Star selection, hitting .297/.367/.538 with 37 home runs, 35 doubles, three triples and 107 RBI in 162 games between the Baltimore Orioles and the Los Angeles Dodgers last year. A midseason deal to L.A. last year familiarized him with the N.L. West, as he hit .273/.338/.487 with 13 home runs, 14 doubles and 42 RBI in 66 games for the Dodgers.

He may have just four career appearances at Petco Park (8-for-18, .444 average), but his track record speaks for itself.

San Diego is a team in need of an offensive boost. Last year, the Padres ranked 28th in both average and runs scored while finishing 24th in home runs. Those are all areas in which Machado's bat should provide help.

The Padres are currently in the midst of a 12-year playoff drought. They have not posted a winning record since 2010 and have finished no higher than fourth in the N.L. West since 2014. Signing Machado may not solve all of their problems, but it seems to have increased their odds of being competitive this season.

After all that, Manny Machado will be paid handsomely to live in a beautiful city and play for a team that isn't far off from being a National League powerhouse.

As ESPN's Jeff Passan first reported, Machado has agreed to a deal with the San Diego Padres. Per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, it's for 10 years and $300 million. It also has an opt-out after the fifth year, according to Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports.

It's not a done deal yet. This is straight from Padres executive chairman Ron Fowler, per Dennis Lin of The Athletic:

Padres executive chairman Ron Fowler: “We do not have a deal. We are continuing discussions.”

— Dennis Lin (@dennistlin) February 19, 2019

This doesn't mean there won't be a deal, however. With the terms in place, it should become official as soon as the fine print is ironed out and Machado passes a physical.

In the meantime, there's plenty about this contract worth celebrating.

For Machado, it's simple: The 26-year-old is the owner of the largest free-agent contract in Major League Baseball history. Giancarlo Stanton's 13-year, $325 million extension is still the largest contract, period, but Machado's deal tops Alex Rodriguez's 10-year, $275 million deal from 2007 as the most lucrative found on the open market.

Machado's fellow players must be feeling relief. Some of MLB's biggest names—including Mike Trout, Justin Verlander, Adam Wainwright and Evan Longoria—have publicly taken issue with teams' growing indifference toward free agency. Machado's megadeal doesn't mean everything's fixed, but it should quell some of the unrest. Bryce Harper's inevitable megadeal will quell it further.

As large as Machado's contract is, it's no overpay. Initial projections for his free-agent pact tended to be around $300 million. The folks at MLB Trade Rumors even went as high as $390 million.

Machado's youth was one element of these equations. The other, of course, was the reality that he's an exceptional player.

He was generally regarded as a top-10 prospect going into the 2012 season, and he was still only 20 years old when he debuted with the Baltimore Orioles on August 9 of that year. He was a difference-maker in their postseason push right away, and he was an All-Star and Gold Glover at third base the next season.

Left knee surgery in October 2013 and right knee surgery in August 2014 temporarily sidetracked his rise. But he's been healthy enough since then to average 159 games per season. Per Baseball Reference, he's also been good enough to rank fifth among infielders in wins above replacement:

• 1. Jose Altuve: 26.0 WAR
• 2. Nolan Arenado: 25.3 WAR
• 3. Paul Goldschmidt: 24.6 WAR
• 4. Francisco Lindor: 23.9 WAR
• 5. Manny Machado: 23.2 WAR

Machado's bat has been the driving force behind his superstardom. He's averaged an .856 OPS and 36 home runs per year since 2015, with a peak of a .905 OPS and 37 homers last season.

What's more, his offensive profile is evolving as well as he, the Padres or anyone could hope. Over time, his strikeout rate has decreased while his walk percentage and isolated power have increased:

Defensively, the early returns on Machado's move back to his native shortstop in 2018 weren't great. But his metrics did improve after the Orioles traded him to the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 1, which raises the possibility that Machado's skills weren't the problem.

In any case, his more likely long-term home is third base. He has two Gold Gloves and 84 career defensive runs saved to vouch for his ability to play the hot corner well enough to earn his keep.

That brings us to a moment of obligatory handwringing over Machado's occasional tendency to make a fool of himself, which was especially visible last October. But any notion that this somehow bars him from being a winning player isn't supported by the evidence. He played in two postseasons with the Orioles, and his behavior didn't keep the Dodgers from going to the World Series last year.

To ensure that they also win with Machado, the Padres only need to put a good supporting cast around him.

With a 96-loss 2018 fresh in their wake, that probably won't happen right away. And the club's payroll will be top-heavy in coming seasons. Assuming (for now) that Machado gets paid $30 million per year, the Padres will have north of $70 million tied up in him, Eric Hosmer and Wil Myers through 2022. That's a lot of money for a franchise with a peak Opening Day payroll of $108.4 million.

But now for the great, big bright side that is San Diego's No. 1 farm system.

Included within are Fernando Tatis Jr., who's the best shortstop prospect in baseball, and Luis Urias, who's arguably the best second base prospect. Both should line up alongside Machado at some point in 2019 and stay there for many years.

Catcher Francisco Mejia, right-hander Chris Paddack and left-hander Logan Allen are also ready to make an impact on the 2019 Padres. The club also has a host of talented young outfielders—Franchy Cordero (24), Hunter Renfroe (27), Manuel Margot (24) and Franmil Reyes (23)—to choose from. In coming years, these guys (and more) will be cheap talent to counterbalance the expensive contracts.

The Padres could certainly use a tried-and-true ace for a starting rotation that will lean young in coming years. As noted by JJ Cooper of Baseball America, their wealth of young talent could bring one in via the trade market:

The Padres' lineup is now so far ahead of the development curve of their pitching staff that I have to imagine we'll see some trades from the No. 1 farm system in the game to help the starting rotation.

— JJ Cooper (@jjcoop36) February 19, 2019

All told, where the Padres are now isn't the same as where they were between 2014 and 2015.

During that period, general manager A.J. Preller tried to build a contender overnight by sacrificing both financial (the James Shields signing) and player (trades for Myers, Justin Upton, Matt Kemp and Craig Kimbrel) capital. Doing so proved to be reckless.

This time, the Padres are following a formula laid down by the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros. Both clubs slowly but surely built unstoppable rosters fueled by both youthful and veteran talent, and each was rewarded with a World Series championship.

If everything comes together around Machado the way it should, the Padres could push for the postseason as early as 2020. After that, there could be little to stop them from becoming a World Series contender.

                  

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference and FanGraphs. Contract and payroll data courtesy of Roster Resource and Cot's Baseball Contracts.