MANNY MACHADO IS A PADRE

Guys....... MANNY MACHADO IS A SAN DIEGO PADRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you're looking for thoughtful analysis, you won't find it here. I've already written that article.

This is a celebration of today: one of the best, if not THE best, days in Padres history.

This fanbase, and San Diego sports in general, has been through SO much this decade. We NEEDED this and we DESERVE this.

It almost feels surreal, but it's not. It's crazier than that. Surreal implies that the present reality might seem implausible and bizarre, but is still reality nonetheless; in this situation, Manny Machado being a SAN DIEGO PADRE still doesn't feel real.

This moment has an ethereal (see below) feeling to it, which is really the only way to describe it:

That is the exact feeling produced by a headline like "Manny Machado, San Diego Padres reach 10 Year, $300 million deal." Again: It doesn't feel real.

I'm concerned that at any moment, I'm going to be violently jarred from this incredible dream and awake to a reality wherein we actually signed someone like Logan Forsythe instead.

Hell, this isn't even a kind of thing that happens in video games- even the VIRTUAL Padres are restricted by the confines of their "small-market" label- in years past, to get a player like Machado, you'd have to enable the "Force Trades/Signings" option to get him on the Padres roster in a game like MLB 18: The Show.

Simply put, this has just NEVER happened before in Padres history. I didn't think I would EVER see it, until Bill Gates bought the team or something.

I don't care if he doesn't "hustle", or if his fiery temperament rubs the San Diego media the wrong way.

He's MANNY FREAKING MACHADO: an all-decade, potentially-future-hall-of-famer in the middle of his prime.

He can walk to first base for all I care.

Machado isn't just some short term rental (like Justin Upton) or an overpay for past performance (like Eric Hosmer/Matt Kemp)- we're getting one of the best players IN. THE. ENTIRE. GAME. There is absolutely no downside to this signing- not even at the 300 million dollar price point. 

I can only write about the same feeling so many times before becoming even more repetitive than I already am- but to sum it up in four words: IT'S JUST TOOOOOOOOOO PERFECT.

Once the euphoria has worn off, I suppose that brings us to another important question: what do we do next?

We should probably make some trades/signings for starting pitching. Dallas Keuchel is still available, as is Gio Gonzalez. The Padres can probably still afford either of them. We've also got an excess of infield prospects- all of whom possess very real shots at being good major league players- that could potentially be valuable trade pieces too. Marcus Stroman, who the Padres had been linked to earlier in the offseason, might be available in the aftermath of his public scolding of Blue Jays management for not offering him an extension.

Also, another important question: are we gonna be good next year? We'll probably be better than last year (not that that's a high bar to clear), so I guess it depends on how you define "good". The Dodgers and the Rockies are also pretty good too. We probably won't make the playoffs- there's still lots of young talents that need to make their ways to the Majors first- and this is also totally okay. We're going to get the first glimpse of what this team could be at its best, and that won't come all at once, but I guarantee you: there will be massive steps forward in 2019 for the Padres.

There's still about a month left until Opening Day, so we shall see what happens- but I also gotta say: that month cannot pass by quickly enough. GO PADRES!!!!!!!!!!!!!