After waiting and waiting, it's been confirmed that Manny Machado has reached a deal with the San Diego Padres. The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported that Machado signed Padres to a 10 year, $300 million deal. Fernando Tatis Jr. has been a fan of Machado and shares the same agent. Now, the two dynamic players will share the left side of San Diego's infield.

With a lineup that has Luis Urias at second base, and Eric Hosmer at first, this is now an infield that teams need to pay attention to and respect. They are becoming one of the strongest infields in the league.

ESPN reports that all these players are with San Diego for the long haul, showing the San Diego is ready to turn the page on their franchise and make a serious run to reclaim their division.

Manny Machado snags a lucrative $300 million deal

Bleacher Report points out that Manny Machado's deal provides an opt-out provision after the fifth year. Machado is a four-time All-Star and has recorded 37 home runs and 107 RBIs in 2018 with the Baltimore Orioles and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Machado's position has not been set in stone yet but has played at third and short, when he moved to shortstop last year. The Machado blockbuster deal comes a year after signing first baseman Eric Hosmer to an at the time massive eight-year, $144 million deal. The Padres have failed to reach the postseason since 2006 and have not had a winning record since 2010.

The Philadelphia Phillies and the Chicago White Sox were both fighting to sign Machado. The White Sox believed they had made the best offer for Machado. White Sox GM Kenny Williams said that he was shocked to hear that Machado was off the market. This now leaves only Bryce Harper unsigned.

Bryce Harper remains top free agent unsigned but expected to sign quickly

Philadelphia has said they are willing to spend "stupid" money on free agents, and now have their focus on Bryce Harper. Harper and his agent Scott Boras now know what the going rate is for a player like him. The signing of Machado now reveals that teams are not avoiding top free agents.

While Machado and Harper were unsigned in February, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred acknowledged that he would prefer free agents be signed sooner than later, but that a system was put in place that allows the free agency market to operate. Manfred also said that the market is going to empty eventually in the next few weeks, which shows Manny Machado was the one who opened the floodgates of free agency, probably leading to more free agents to get signed before the start of Spring Training games.
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