Padres third baseman Manny Machado was briefly the talk of the offseason, inking a 10-year, $300 million contract with the Padres on February 21. The contract was bested shortly thereafter when Bryce Harper signed for $330 million over 13 years with the Phillies.
Still, Machado’s windfall is enviable, even by mascots. Braves mascot Blooper was so green with envy, he conconcted a scheme to trick Machado into signing away his earnings. Blooper brought out a large placard with the header “PLAYER AUTOGRAPHS.” There was a large cutout rectangle in the bottom right corner where Blooper insisted Machado sign, so the superstar did as he was told. Blooper then peeled off the autograph cover to reveal a large personal check made out to Blooper for the amount of $300 million. Oops!
Oh, Manny.
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) May 1, 2019
What did you just do?! 🙈 https://t.co/mdjaD0Q61G
What a brilliant scheme executed flawlessly by Blooper.
Machado entered Wednesday’s action batting a .236/.325/.368 with four homers and 12 RBI. Perhaps becoming a theft victim will motivate him to pick up the offense. [Update: It did. He hit a game-tying solo homer in the fourth inning.]
