White Sox News: Manny Machado might be available again

You might remember when the Chicago White Sox went after Manny Machado after the 2018 season. It was this big deal all off-season long. They were also in on Bryce Harper but Machado was obviously thier primary target.

The White Sox went to strange lengths to try and recruit Machado. They signed a best friend and a brother-in-law when they landed Jon Jay and Yonder Alonso. It was a good try but Machado ended up signing with the San Diego Padres. Obviously, they missed on Harper as well.

Little did we know that it would tell the story of the franchise for the next couple of years. The rebuild has yet to take that next step beyond a playoff berth because of the fact that they really don't ever spend big on free agents.

They are one of a handful of teams that have never given out a 100 million-dollar contract. That is certainly not something to be proud of. They made it hard to take them seriously when they say that they are trying to win.

Manny Machado is going to become available again after the 2023 season.

Well, now there is a chance that Manny Machado becomes available again. He has the opportunity to opt out of his contract at the end of the 2023 season which would make him a free agent again. Surprisingly, he might even be able to make more money in the second half of his career than we thought.

He is going to be 31 in July so he is a bit older than when he signed this deal with the Padres (it was young to be a free agent but he started his career earlier than most) but he is still at the top of his game. He is in the MVP discussion almost every year.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic believes that he is going to be extended by the Padres before Opening Day. That would obviously take him off the table but he will almost certainly opt out after the season if that is not done.

Now, even if it gets to that point at the end of the season, it won't mean that Machado is for sure leaving San Diego. They like paying people what they want and he will almost certainly get it.

The White Sox, however, would have a major opportunity to right that wrong from a few years ago if they could somehow land Manny Machado. Don't count on it even being a conversation that the front office has but it would certainly be awesome.