Chicago White Sox: Three reason’s it’s good they didn’t get Machado
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:
The Contract
Manny Machado is a very good player. There is also a decent chance he doesn’t live up to the ten years, 300 million dollar contract with the Padres. He earned that contract by being one of the most talented baseball players in the world but has also admitted to not being a guy who hustles hard every single game. That is a tough look for a guy who will be making 30 million dollars a season until he is in his late 30s.
He had a good, but not great, year in 2019. He is judged based on the bar he set in the first half of his career so his .256/.334/.462 slash line isn’t good enough. He did hit 32 home runs and have 85 RBIs which are decent power numbers but guys making 30 million dollars a season might need to be a little bit better than that. He didn’t even represent the National League in the All-Star game last season which is a tough look after taking so long to pick a team.
It is certainly possible that Machado does end up living up to this contract. It really wouldn’t hurt the White Sox all that much if he does live up to it because he is out in San Diego. The White Sox and Padres almost never meet unless it was in the World Series besides a few regular-season games every few years. Either way, it is good for this young White Sox team to not be locked into a player like that.
Yoan Moncada
Manny Machado is a great third baseman. Yoan Moncada has the potential to be a better third baseman. It may take a while for Moncada to reach Machado’s level defensively but he on the right track. Moncada had a higher WAR at 4.6 to Machado’s 3.1. Moncada had the third-best batting average in the American League at .315 with a slash line of .315/.367/.548. He hit 25 home runs and had 79 RBIs in a year that he missed a few games due to injury.
All in all, Moncada is probably the safer bet over Machado over the span of the next ten years. The White Sox moved him from second base to third base due to Machado choosing the San Diego Padres instead of them. He went from being a below-average second baseman to an elite third baseman. We don’t even know if he would have turned the corner as a hitter if he never made the change.
There are some people who also believe that Machado wanted to actually play shortstop. Well, the White Sox are doing just fine with Tim Anderson who won the batting title in 2019. There is literally no void left by Machado choosing another team.
Other Free Agents
The Chicago White Sox have spent a lot of money this offseason. They signed Yasmani Grandal, Edwin Encarnacion, Dallas Keuchel, and Gio Gonzalez in free agency this winter. They have taken the money that would have went to Machado and given it to some other impact players. All of these guys combined will be more of an impact than just one individual third baseman.
If Machado chose the White Sox, this money would have likely be taken up to the point where they wouldn’t have been as active in free agency. They addressed positions of need with their offseason money this time around. They don’t need a left side of the infield player with Moncada and Anderson, so using that money on a catcher, two starters, and the designated hitter is putting the money to much better use.
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Baseball is the ultimate team game. If you can’t score runs, you will be bad. If you can’t pitch, you will be bad. If your bullpen can’t hold a lead, you will be bad. No one player has ever won their team the World Series by themselves. You need to have a lot of talent at every position to be a playoff team in Major League Baseball. Machado is a great player, but the White Sox are better off without that contract on their books.