Padres' Manny Machado praises Dodgers' for spending big on free agents: 'I f***ing love it'

Manny Machado doesn't have a problem with the Los Angeles Dodgers' spending. 

While many Major League Baseball team owners wrung their hands and protested over the payroll disparity throughout the sport after the Dodgers signed free agent outfielder Kyle Tucker to a mega-millions contract, Machado welcomed the aggressive spending by the San Diego Padres' National League West rival. 

The Padres' star third baseman added some profanity to emphasize his point while speaking to reporters on Sunday.

“I f***king love it," Machado said, via ESPN's Jesse Rogers. "Every team should be doing it. That sh** is f***ing great for the game.”

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As USA Today's Bob Nightengale points out, Machado is staunchly opposed to MLB implementing a salary cap and limiting earning potential for the players. 

However, the debate over a cap ignited further after the Dodgers inked Tucker, considered the top free agent on the offseason market, to a four-year, $240 million deal and outbid rival suitors including the New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays. 

Kyle Tucker deal with Dodgers ignited MLB salary cap debate

A shorter-term agreement paying Tucker an average annual salary of $60 million was particularly grating to many in the sport. One team owner told The Athletic that it was "a 100% certainty" that clubs would push for a salary cap in the next collective bargaining agreement. 

“These guys are going to go for a cap no matter what it takes,” a source familiar with conversation among MLB owners said to The Athletic's Evan Drellich.

The Dodgers go into the 2026 season with a projected payroll of $395 million, according to FanGraphs. That will cost the team at least an estimated extra $100 million in luxury tax for going over the $244 million threshold. 

Among MLB teams, the Mets are second in team payroll but nearly $30 million behind the Dodgers. The only other club to exceed a projected $300 million is the New York Yankees. 

The Padres rank ninth with an estimated $219 payroll, so Machado's remarks may have been a prompt for his team's owners to write bigger checks to compete with the Dodgers in the NL West. However, the Padres will likely go up for sale soon and that might curb any additional spending. San Diego just added outfielder Nick Castellanos, along with pitchers Griffin Canning and German Marquez. But those players didn't require multi-year or large-money contracts.

Machado did give Padres general manager A.J. Preller for getting a player like Castellanos at a below-market price while the Philadelphia Phillies pay the majority of his $20 million. San Diego is only obligated to pay Castellanos the major-league minimum of $780,000.

"You get a $20 million player for pennies on the dollar, I think that kind of deserves an extension for A.J.," Machado said, via The Athletic's Dennis Lin.