The Chicago White Sox didn’t get Manny Machado when it looked like they were going to last winter. That was a blessing in disguise.
The Chicago White Sox went after Manny Machado hard last winter. They wanted to add him to be their third baseman for what they see as their long window of success. It wouldn’t have been the worst move in the world but there is plenty of reasons to believe that it was a blessing in disguise to miss on him. They offered him a contract that could have earned him more money, but he opted to take the guaranteed money with the San Diego Padres one year ago today.
This was something that made White Sox fans sad basically all through Spring Training. He chose to go be out of the loop with San Diego instead of coming play for the White Sox. The Sox were also stuck with Yonder Alonso and Jon Jay, who were basically only brought in to lure Machado to the South Side. It didn’t work and was honestly a little embarrassing.
As bad as the whole thing was, it is a good thing that he chose not to come here. There would have been a plethora of consequences if he opted to come to Chicago. He is a very good player, don’t be misinformed. It just makes more sense for the White Sox to not have him in their organization in hindsight. It would have made a lot of things that have happened since likely not happen if he came here. With that said, these are the three biggest reasons it is good that he chose the San Diego Padres instead of the White Sox: