Padres veteran third baseman Manny Machado underwent surgery to repair the extensor tendon in his right elbow Tuesday, the San Diego announced, via Bernie Wilson of the Associated Press. Dr. Neal ElAttrache performed the procedure. Machado’s timeline for recovery is estimated to be between four and six months, the early end of which would allow him to be ready in time for spring training while the later end would have him ready to return shortly after Opening Day, but of course he could still need to build up from there in the event he misses spring training. The news was hardly a surprise, as Machado himself had previously indicated that elbow surgery was in his future.
It was a relatively down season for Machado, 30, who slashed .258/.319/.462 with a wRC+ of 114 in 601 trips to the plate this season. After a standout 2023 that saw him accumulate a whopping 7.5 fWAR and finish second to Paul Goldschmidt in NL MVP voting, Machado was widely expected to opt out of his contract this offseason and test the open market. Rather than risk that eventuality, the Padres opted to extend him through the 2033 campaign, adding an additional five years and $170M to the six years and $180M already guaranteed to him in his original deal.
Now, Machado will run the risk of entering the first season of his new megadeal in San Diego on the injured list. The club is already expected to cut payroll by around $50M on the heels of a disappointing 82-80 season, and with uncertainty regarding their franchise third baseman, the club will have to do more with less in replacing Machado’s production for the first part of the season, in addition to returning or replacing pending free-agent stars Blake Snell and Josh Hader.
Fortunately, that might be easier to do than one might expect. Although the club relied on depth options like Matthew Batten and Eguy Rosario down the stretch this season in Machado’s absence, the Padres figure to boast a deep group of infield options in 2024 even assuming the club prefers to keep Fernando Tatis Jr. in the outfield rather than move him back onto the dirt. With Xander Bogaerts entrenched at shortstop and utility infielder Ha-Seong Kim more than capable of sliding over to cover third base while Machado is unavailable, Jake Cronenworth could temporarily return to his natural position of second base after spending most of the 2023 campaign at first. That would open first base up for an external acquisition, a hypothetical return for deadline acquisition Garrett Cooper, or even veteran slugger Matt Carpenter, who struggled in 76 plate appearances this year but holds a $5.5M player option for the 2024 campaign.
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