The White Sox were left disappointed on Tuesday when Manny Machado agreed to a deal with the Padres, but it does not sound like their offer was as superior to San Diego’s as they are making it seem.
Machado has reportedly agreed to a 10-year, $300 million contract with the Padres. According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Chicago offered Machado an eight-year, $250 million deal. The offer also included incentives.
Source: #WhiteSox offer to Machado was 8/$250M (a higher AAV than he will receive from #Padres. Total value of deal – with incentives and vesting options – could have been “well north” of $300M.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) February 19, 2019
While the average annual value of Chicago’s reported offer is higher than what Machado will get from the Padres, his deal also includes an opt-out after the fifth season. That means the total guaranteed dollar amount is more than what the White Sox offered, plus Machado has the option of hitting free agency again when he’s still in his prime at age 31.
Judging by the way one White Sox executive reacted to the Machado deal, it seems like Chicago did not realize how serious the Padres were in their pursuit of the free agent slugger. If that’s true, they weren’t alone in that line of thinking.
