Report: Manny Machado Will Play Third Base for Padres 'From the Start'
The Padres have officially welcomed superstar Manny Machado to San Diego, announcing the infielder's 10-year, $300 million deal on Thursday.
Shortly after the team's announcement, it was reported that Machado has also agreed to play third base from the start from his new team, leaving the shortstop position open for top-prospect Fernando Tatis Jr., per Fancred's Jon Heyman.
Machado has played both shortstop and third base in his professional career. He made his major league debut for Baltimore in 2012 at third base, spending three seasons at the position before switching over to shortstop for the Orioles during the 2015 season. He played both positions throughout the 2016 season, before returning to third base in 2017.
The two-time Golden Glove winner spent most of 2018 at shortstop but played 16 games at third base.
Tatis Jr. has been a shortstop in the Padres organization since 2016. He entered the 2018 season as one of the top minor league prospects, batting .286 with 16 home runs and 43 RBIs in 88 games played before he underwent season-ending surgery for a broken left thumb in late July.
Machado's record-setting contract with San Diego is the largest free-agent signing in Major League history–and in the history of American sports. The 26-year-old infielder batted .297 with 37 home runs and a career-high 107 RBI's in 162 games between the Orioles and Dodgers.
The four-time All-Star was traded from Baltimore to Los Angeles just ahead of the July trade deadline. Machado spent the first six and a half seasons of his major league career with the Orioles, who selected him in the first round of the 2010 amateur draft.
