TAMPA — Carlos Beltran knows something about signing a huge free-agent contract, and while he seemed a bit stunned when he heard the news Manny Machado had agreed to a 10-year, $300 million deal with the Padres, he insisted it wasn’t a shock.
But he also believes an older Machado would have made a different decision.
“When you become a free agent, especially the first time around, I don’t blame him that he went to the team [that offered] the most money,’’ Beltran said Tuesday at Steinbrenner Field in his new role as a Yankees special adviser.