Padres' Manny Machado is No Longer Elite, Says MLB Insider

The San Diego Padres have dealt with the ongoing struggles from multiple key players this season, leading to the team having one of the worst offenses in the entire league.

One player responsible for this is veteran All-Star Manny Machado, who is currently putting together by far the worst season of his career.

Machado is hitting .172 with 11 home runs and 34 runs batted in, while posting an OPS of .698. Machado had been a catalyst for the Padres over the years, but his issues at the plate have been very alarming for this franchise.

Entering Friday, no qualified player in MLB has a worse batting average than Machado. He ranks 158th out of 158 qualified players.

Due to his struggles, there has been a lot of concern around him potentially declining with seven more years on his contract. And MLB insider David Schoenfield of ESPN expanded on that thought by saying that Machado is no longer an elite player in baseball.

"Machado won't hit .172 all season, as this start is partially the result of that low BABIP on grounders. Expect some upward regression there, but there are still enough red flags here to suggest that he's no longer a reliable middle-of-the-order bat," Schoenfield wrote. "This is what happens to most hitters at age 33 or 34 — and, remember, while Machado was remarkably consistent the past three seasons, his 2023-25 numbers were down from his 2020-22 peak years with the Padres.

"Only seven more years left on his contract."

Machado's decline this season has been almost sudden, and it's continued to grow as the year has gone on. Nobody within the Padres organization could have foreseen this type of offensive slump from the veteran, especially for this long.

The veteran has chalked up his problems to it just being "baseball", while banking on things turning around at some point. But the Padres have been patiently waiting for over two months now, and nothing has changed with his swing.

The Padres could have a real problem on their hands since Machado still has seven more seasons left on his current contract. San Diego owes the veteran $39 million each season, totaling over $270 million during his age 34-40 seasons.

If Machado isn't able to get back to being the All-Star player that the Padres have come to know, this contract could seriously hamper them down the line. Machado may not be elite any longer, but he still has plenty of talent, and the organization now has to trust that he will figure things out sooner rather than later.

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