Manny Machado, Padres reach MLB's most expensive deal for free agent

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Manny Machado, third baseman and shortstop has accepted a 300-million-U.S.-dollar deal offered by the San Diego Padres, in what is believed to be the most expensive contract signed by a free agent in the history of the Major League Baseball (MLB), according to ESPN.

Machado could choose to end the 10-year contract in the fifth year. The four-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove Award winner was selected by the Baltimore Orioles with the No.3 overall pick in the 2010 MLB Draft. In July 2018, he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Though the team's management, owners Ron Fowler and Peter Seidler and general manager A.J. Preller would neither confirm nor comment on the deal, players of the Padres were already excited about their new teammate.

Eric Hosmer, first baseman of the MLB's San Diego Padres /VCG Photo

"You see me smiling right here…He's one of the top guys in the league. Obviously, extremely young free agent that's got a lot of amazing baseball left in him, and he's already had a lot of amazing baseball in his career," said first baseman Eric Hosmer.

Wil Myers, the last Padre who started an All-Star Game in 2016 said: "It's exciting to be able to add a star, somebody like that in the middle of the lineup. I think it lengthens the lineup for us, makes everyone around us better…Anytime you can add a player of that caliber to your team, you do it."

The Padres ranked 28th among all 30 teams of the league last season which was understandable since they averaged only 3.8 runs per game, not to mention the fact that it has been 12 years since the last time the Padres played the playoffs.

In order to change that, the team has shelled out 474 million U.S. dollars in free agency in the past two seasons, more than any other team in the league. By contrast, they spent only 309 million U.S. dollars in the 25 seasons before that.

Giancarlo Stanton, outfielder and designated hitter of the MLB's New York Yankees. /VCG Photo

If Machado indeed signed the contract, it would be the second biggest deal in general in the MLB history, only after the 13-year, 325-million-U.S.-dollar deal signed by Giancarlo Stanton and the Miami Marlins in 2014.

However, even in total sum, neither Machado nor Stanton could make the most money in American sports.

Mexican boxer Canelo Alvarez in 2018 signed a five-year, 365-million-U.S.-dollar contract with sports broadcaster DAZN, the biggest contract in today's professional sports world.

But baseball players dominate the top 10 most expensive contracts, snatching the second place all through the seventh, as well as the ninth and tenth.

In the eighth place is the six-year, 228-million-U.S.-dollar deal nabbed by James Harden of the NBA's Houston Rockets.