At the risk of sounding hypocritical, I’ve been feeling hypocritical lately.
In December, I used this space to question several facets of the Atlanta Braves’ strategy to sign nine of their young players to long-term contracts – really long-term contracts – that can prevent most of them from reaching free agency until 2029 at the earliest.
I didn’t hate the spending spree for the people in Atlanta: the front office, the players and, mostly, the fans. For a generation too young to invest in a Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine or John Smoltz jersey, now is their chance to reserve space on a new, nascent bandwagon. For fans of the other 29 teams – unless you’re the type of psycho who pines for the reserve clause – the trend isn’t an unqualified positive.
My sense of hypocrisy crept in when the San Diego Padres recently extended the contract of star third baseman Manny Machado. The 11-year, $350 million pact delays Machado’s free agency until 2033, and will prevent every team who loses the forthcoming Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes from signing an All-Star position player next winter.
In the Padres’ team store, much like in Atlanta, a Machado jersey isn’t the only hot item. Fernando Tatis Jr. is under contract until 2034, Xander Bogaerts until 2033, Yu Darvish until 2028, Joe Musgrove until 2027.
In a literal sense, the difference between Atlanta’s “Core 9” and San Diego’s “Core 5” is, well, four. (Three if the Padres are able to sign star outfielder Juan Soto to a long-term extension.) It seems difficult to be a fan of what one team is doing and not the other. If the Braves’ strategy is a net negative for the fans of most major league teams, whither goest the Padres?
Call me a hypocrite, but I can’t wait to find out.
According to Nielsen, San Diego is the 30th-largest media market in North America, ranking behind Triple-A cities like Salt Lake City, Nashville, Indianapolis, Raleigh and Charlotte. The idea that a team in San Diego could not…
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