MLB News: Manny Machado Confirms He Will Be Opting Out of Contract with Padres

Around the baseball world today, Padres star and former Dodgers infielder Manny Machado confirmed what everyone in the industry already knew. He will be opting out of the final 5 years and $150 million left on his contract with San Diego.

After watching this past winter’s hot stove, who would blame him? Multiple players signed deals worth $300 million and above. Manny says he wants some of that himself.

The Dodgers traded for Machado at the deadline in 2018 and he helped the club reach the World Series for the second year in a row. After the season, publicly it didn’t seem like there was much interest from the Dodgers’ side in retaining the star. But if he were on the open market today, that might be a different story.

In 2018, Manny wasn’t quite the player he was today. The now 31-year-old has grown into a leader on the field and in the clubhouse in San Diego. He remains one of the top players in the game and is going to get paid like one next offseason. Whether the Dodgers are involved in any way likely depends on how things go with Miguel Vargas and Gavin Lux this season.

Since leaving LA, Machado has hit .280 with 108 home runs while posting an .855 OPS over 519 games.