The San Diego Padres face an uphill battle in the NL West, where they’re going head-to-head with the free-spending Los Angeles Dodgers. It’s a tough spot – the Padres have built a solid roster, but the Dodgers’ willingness to spend creates a massive competitive gap.
Most around baseball are getting tired of watching the Dodgers throw money at every available star. Teams trying to keep pace, like the Padres, feel the frustration more than most.
But not everyone’s upset about it.
Manny Machado had some choice words defending the Dodgers’ approach, and they weren’t subtle. ESPN’s Jesse Rogers caught up with the Padres superstar, who delivered a pretty strong NSFW take on his division rival’s spending spree.
“I (expletive) love it,” Machado said. “Every team should be doing it. That (expletive) is (expletive) great for the game.”
Think about that for a second. Here’s a guy whose championship hopes get tougher every time the Dodgers sign another superstar, and he’s actively rooting for them to keep spending.
From a player’s perspective, it makes perfect sense. The more teams willing to spend big, the better it is for everyone wearing a uniform. If ownership groups start pushing for salary caps or spending limits, player salaries take a hit across the board.
That’s the dividing line right there. Front offices and ownership groups – especially the ones that don’t operate like the Dodgers – keep pushing for spending restrictions. Players want the opposite.
Machado’s defense of the Dodgers shows you exactly where players stand on this issue.
The Tucker Deal Changes Everything
The conversation reached a new level this offseason when the Dodgers handed Kyle Tucker a four-year, $240 million contract. That’s $60 million per season – more than half the total payroll for plenty of teams around baseball.
It’s the kind of deal that makes other front offices throw their hands up. How do you compete with that?
But Machado isn’t calling for the Dodgers to slow down. He’s telling other teams to step up their game instead.
You’d expect some frustration from a player whose postseason chances get harder with every Dodgers signing. Instead, Machado’s pushing for more teams to operate the same way. That tells you everything about how players view this spending arms race.
The battle lines couldn’t be clearer. Players want teams spending big, even if it means their own division rivals get stronger. When a star player defends his biggest competition’s approach, that’s about as clear a signal as you’ll get about where the players union stands.
