Manny Machado has his haters. There’s no doubt about that. But if those haters would watch him play on a nightly basis instead of just calling him out when he tries to break up a double play, they’d actually gain an appreciation for what he means to the San Diego Padres organization.
His third season (yes, it’s already been that long) was arguably his best in a Padres uniform but at the end of the day, that didn’t matter to him because the team didn’t make the postseason.
“It’s disappointing for us. Obviously we would’ve liked to be that team standing at the end of the year and holding up that banner,” Machado told the media after the final game of the regular season.