(670 The Score) There are two perspectives from which to view Manny Machado's choice of the Padres instead of the White Sox, and neither one leaves the loser of the sweepstakes looking good.
Executive vice president Ken Williams told reporters Tuesday that the White Sox had decided that they would "not go to that $300 million level," an admission that leaves any reasonable person asking, "Why not?" Instead, Machado agreed to a 10-year, $300-million deal with San Diego, per reports.
That was the number understood to be about right when Machado was traded from the Orioles to the Dodgers at the trade deadline last summer and when the season ended in November, so if that level was a bridge too far this whole time, it's hard to discern what this has all been about. As details have emerged regarding the White Sox's unnecessarily complicated offer, it seems like just tacking on two more years and the $50 million and adding a reasonable opt-out might have been the better move.
This scenario would look like a player choosing the deal that guaranteed him more total money, which is entirely understandable. Here the onus would be on the White Sox for their self-imposed spending cap despite a public posturing of real readiness to spend. They wanted to have it both ways, though, according to reports of their offer.
The White Sox's deal guaranteed $250 million over eight years, Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported, but could have ended up paying him $350 million total if all incentives and vesting options were reached over the full life of the contract. This raises the other possibility, that Machado was either using the White Sox for leverage the whole time or would rather take less money to play somewhere other than the South Side. If he wanted to be in San Diego that much, there was nothing to be done.
That reasoning would get the White Sox off the hook for low-balling on the guaranteed dollars but reinforces the stigma that it's not an attractive place to play for whatever reason. That could be why general manager Rick Hahn played the game of using the signings of Machado's brother-in-law Yonder Alonso and childhood friend Jon Jay as lures, only to see the big fish circle and swim past them. Their presence now will only serve as a reminder of what isn't here.
Missing out on the chance to pay one player $300 million isn't the worst outcome possible, it's important to remember. That money is still available for other resources, and most World Series winners don't have that high a percentage of total payroll committed to just one player. Where you only really get clobbered is when you make that kind of signing and the player becomes bad or hurt or both.
But the White Sox wanted Machado regardless of that risk, and it stings that they didn't get blown out of the water by the Yankees or Red Sox but were edged by a team on their competitive level on both the field and the balance sheet. It's either their fault for not paying enough or beyond their control due to not being a sufficiently desirable destination.
Neither one is much fun to confront.
Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's Bernstein & McKnight Show in middays. You can follow him on Twitter @dan_bernstein.
