Angels: How Will Manny Machado's Contract Extension Affect Shohei Ohtani's Free Agency?

There are a few layers to this one for Ohtani.

Early Sunday morning, the San Diego Padres agreed to a massive 11-year, $350 million extension to keep superstar third baseman Manny Machado in the brown and gold for the remainder of his career. Machado, 30, said he was going to opt out of the remaining five years on his deal, and test the free agent market. However, the Padres wanted to keep him in San Diego, and paid up to do so.

The question that now comes from this move is what it means for Shohei Ohtani. The two-way superstar is, of course, under his final year of contract with the Angels, and will be entering unrestricted free agency at the end of the season.

Ohtani is expected to get a record contract, potentially in the $500 million or more range, but the Machado move may force that number to go even higher.

With Machado now off the market, Ohtani is the only real superstar heading to free agency this offseason. If Machado didn't sign until the offseason, he would have at least been a good fallback option for the teams that missed out on Ohtani.

Now, however, it's going to be Ohtani or bust for all the big players, meaning the price tag will likely only grow.

This should take the Padres out of the running for Machado, especially with Juan Soto being up for a new contract next year. However, with the way they've spent, we really can't come them out.

As for the other contenders, the Los Angeles Dodgers will still be big players, as will both the New York Mets and Yankees. The San Francisco Giants will likely make a big play, as will the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox.

With Machado off the board, the courting of Ohtani will only be larger. Entering his age-31 season, Machado just got a massive 11 years and $350 million. Ohtani, who turns 29 this year, will be able to use that as a base contract, and could have a chance at even exceeding the $600 million threshold depending on how many years he gets.

The 2023 offseason may be nine months away. But on Sunday, it just got a whole lot more interesting.