Former Padre Defends Manny Machado, Posts Cryptic Message About Jon Jay Amid Beef

Former San Diego Padres first baseman Yonder Alonso took to X (formerly Twitter) after an altercation between the Padres' Manny Machado, his brother-in-law, and St. Louis Cardinals assistant coach John Jay, his former teammate, on Saturday.

Alonso's since deleted post contained only an emoji of a rat, which many speculated to be directed towards Jay after the incident.

The Cardinals plunked Machado twice in Saturday's contest, and the All-Star took exception on the second occasion. He yelled towards pitcher Andre Granillo, then at home plate umpire Lance Barrett, causing the benches to empty in an attempt to diffuse the situation.

Machado and Jay got into a screaming match during the incident, and some pushing and shoving led to the assistant coach's dismissal. He was the only member of either team to head to the clubhouse early.

“I was just having my team’s back, but I’m a coach, and I shouldn’t have said anything,” Jay said.

Alonso, Machado and Jay have history together, having worked out together in Miami during some offseasons, however Machado was quick to reveal he had no friendly ties to Jay.

“Yeah, right,” Machado said. “I know the real him. … No, absolutely not. Absolutely not.”

Alonso and Jay played college baseball together at the University of Miami and narrowly missed each other in San Diego, with Alonso going to the Oakland Athletics the season Jay joined the Padres. Their paths briefly crossed in the majors towards the ends of their careers in 2019 with the Chicago White Sox.

The first baseman spent more time with the Padres more than any other team, playing four seasons with the Friars from 2012-15

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