My point was that there is better value for an organization that seems to suck ass, and I think it holds. All of those guys are terrific examples of better ways to spend 1/3 of $30mm. If Machado were the guy to put you over the top, as he might be for some teams, then he's worth it. I don't think that is the case in San Diego.
I can only find 2018 comparisons off hand, but Puig isn’t even close to Machado in ANYTHING other that he had less Ks (17) and more stolen bases (3). So, no, it’s not similar. At all. Not even somewhat.
None of the players you mentioned would be under $10M/year on the open market. Yelich and Carrasco would probably be $25M+ each.
I get the attitude comparison I assume you’re trying to make, but Puig is not in the same universe as Machado as a player.
But none of them are available. This opportunity cost calculation is an obviously flawed one because you don’t get to just “spend money on” those guys, you have to trade your entire farm system to get them because they’re underpaid. And then you eventually have to pay them near-Machado money so they stay. A more realistic trio that wouldn’t require a trade is a group like Jed Lowrie, Mike Moustakas (for one year) and Marwin Gonzalez. I’ll take Machado.
All of those players were available for those prices last season. There will be similar quality players available for similar prices in coming seasons. Dooz tells me the Padres farm club is full of them.
I was speaking primarily of All-Star quality talent with apparent attitude issues, but I did find a comparison: .275/25/75 Puig v. .282/30/90 Machado. Those are career numbers prorated over 162 game seasons. Manny's numbers are better. I don't think the comparison is unfair.
And here's one more thing to consider: Machado's salary would now make up about 67% of the Padres 25 man payroll. If they are willing to go on a spending spree to sign all of these prospects and leap into the top 5 teams in total payroll, he's still 20%. That's a huge portion club resources dedicated to one infielder for a team that lost 96 games.
I’m not sure you understand how MLB salaries work. It’s confusing to me still, and I’ve read up on it quite a bit. But since I’m not an MLB GM, I’ll do my best. First of all, teams are capped on the number of dollars they can spend every year on international prospects. The amount depends on any number of things from how far over the luxury tax you went to if you were able to trade prospects for more money. A good example of this was when they Mariners (I think) traded for international bonus money in an attempt to sign Ohtani. He ultimately took less money in LA but the MOST he could be paid in bonus money was 3.5ish mil, by any team in MLB. Of course this was after they paid his posting fee to his club in Japan. There’s also caps on MLB draft bonus pools, similar to internationals. I don’t think I need to discuss MiLB salaries as we all know how low they are. If a major/minor league team is losing money paying their prospects then somebody is grossly mismanaging the team and/or cooking the books. A player doesn’t become a free agent, or eligible for free agency until after they accrue 6 years of service time. And they aren’t eligible for abirtration until the 3rd year of their career. In years 1-3 the player is paid what the team decides, or close to the league minimum. I say all of that to say this, it will be YEARS before the Padres have to start paying their current prospects serious cash.
Here's some links that break it down better than I just did: http://m.mlb.com/glossary/transactions/international-amateur-free-agency-bonus-pool-money https://www.mlb.com/news/2018-mlb-draft-bonus-pools-pick-values/c-269930084 https://www.forbes.com/sites/mauryb...collective-bargaining-agreement/#6dd942de11b9
Who was? Carrasco’s contract was an extension and Quintana and Yelich both got traded, and for significant hauls. Eloy Jimenez was part of the Quintana deal, IIRC, and he’s a top-5 prospect in baseball. They weren’t “available for those prices,” they were available for those prices plus your best young, cheap, likely future All-Star. Your solution—trading someone like Jimenez for Quintana—is much more of a shortsighted, win-now move for a 96-loss team than signing Machado is.
Trade your best prospect (Tatis) for a 30-year-old Quintana and save some money that you can use to sign a Jed Lowrie, or keep your best prospect and play him alongside a 26-year-old superstar for a little more money under a nonexistent salary cap (yes, I know there’s still a luxury tax). I’m taking Tatis + Machado over Quintana + Lowrie by a gigantic margin.
I don’t know if you legitimately don’t know what you’re talking about, just don’t want to believe me, or just want to be right, or some other thing I haven’t considered, but please, do not take it from me. Take it from an expert: http://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/25907443/keith-law-2019-ranking-all-30-mlb-farm-systems
No, you and nashvol have misunderstood my meaning. There are high quality players available in the $10mm range. Nashvol listed a $10mm player who is not particularly high quality, suggesting he would rather have one Machado than three of whoever it was. I suggested that was not the only option and listed four examples of other players in that price range. I have a good understanding that the particular players I listed are not actually available at those costs, just as I understand that there are not actually three Christian Yellhices. Neither was intended to be an actual trade offer. However, I still believe that a team as shitty as SD could have improved more by investing $300mm over 10 years in multiple quality players than in will by placing the same sum in Manny Machado, especially since there is an eventual cap to the teams available resources for payroll. Do you fellows ever consider that you might be the ones who don't understand the discussion?
I don’t think you or I have particularly misunderstood anything, I just want to know who those high quality players are that are available for $10M, because I’m not sure I agree with you. At that price, the best pitchers available are guys like Lance Lynn and Anibal Sanchez, and the best hitters are Lowrie and Moustakas. Even freaking Nathan Eovaldi got $17M a year. Nelson Cruz is a 38-year-old DH and got $14M. Saying someone like Carrasco is available for $10M is like watching a team pay a QB in 2014 and saying Russell Wilson is available for $700K. Those guys aren’t available without trading a huge chunk of your team for them, because their contracts are bargains. The other option is to collect a bunch of top prospects and get lucky on a few, which the Padres are doing already.
Going back to last year’s FA, $10M/year gets you a pitcher like Mike Minor or Jason Vargas or a hitter like Todd Frazier or Yonder Alonso. I like the 3-player thing in theory, I just don’t think any of these guys are actually good.
