Manny for All Seasons

 

So here we are. A team with two of the best defenders in baseball, three of the best hitters in baseball, two of the best pitchers in baseball and one of the best closers in baseball...cannot get over .500 no matter how hard they try. In a season where they were projected to win the NL East and waltz through October. It's gotta be the most devastating bait-and-switch for both the players and the fans in San Diego. This was supposed to be their year. And now they have to come out and say that there's not an overwhelming chance that Juan Soto will be traded, which didn't even appear like a thing that needed to be said going into this year.

What makes a lot of this harder for the Padres is that the Dodgers have already stocked up at the deadline, and both the Diamondbacks and Giants have been checking in on trade targets. And because the Padres are 5 games under .500 and not really close to a wild card spot, people are checking in on some of their pieces. They're thinking about trading Josh Hader, which is odd considering that Hader and Soto were some of their most impressive steals of LAST deadline. This is how wild a year can be, that a team like the Padres can go from buyers to potential sellers.

And I hate it for somebody like Manny Machado, who is locked up and playing well, because he deserves to continue to have a strong team to play around. Wil Myers played in San Diego just long enough to see the team compete, and Machado was a big piece of the 2022 team. But while the Padres will still have a ton of great pieces left even if they do sell, there's still the feeling that Machado may have gotten himself back into a post-2016 Orioles situation, where it looks like it's gonna get better but it keeps getting worse. And while Machado did have a slow start, he's now playing just as well as usual, with 59 RBIs, 88 hits and 20 home runs, well on the way to another 25+ homer year. He may not be as flashy as Soto or Tatis, but he has matured into the rock of this team, and I'm so happy he's come as far as he has. He was once the young whiz kid, like Soto and Tatis, and now he's evolving into the sort of central figure, a lot like Miguel Cabrera, that the rest of the club can lean on. I do hope he doesn't have the drop-off that Miggy had.

I love that this Padres team has all of Juan Soto, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado playing well in their primes, and I really hope that even if they don't compete this year that they can keep that big three intact. I know Preller thinks he can get something nice for Soto, but maybe wait it out and see if he wants to stick around for a decent sum. Y'never know.

Coming Tonight: It took this guy a while to figure out Toronto, but I think he's got it down pat now.