Harper or Machado, Padres or Phillies - who won?

Now that the dust has settled on the two biggest free agents, let's see who is the overall winner.

Manny Machado - This is a great deal for Machado but not a great deal for the Padres. Here's why, Machado has an opt out after 5 years. This is genius on his agents part, because within 5 years, the following will get new deals that may come close to or exceed Machado's deal: Nolan Arenado (at the time the ink was dry on the contract for Machado - Nolan had not been signed), Paul Goldschmidt, Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, and Alex Bregman. What this means is Manny can sit back and wait and see if these batch of free agents pushes the total annual contracts north of Manny's deal. If it does he can test the free agent waters…..again.  This is important cause I highly doubt the Padres will sniff the playoffs in Manny's 5 years. Let's face it, they won't outspend the Dodgers and may not outspend either the Rockies or the D-backs. So Machado can collect his money for 5 years and then get sick of losing, opt out and may get more money based on the new records that the group of 5 set. I am not saying outspending equates to winning the division, but it helps. Even with Machado on the Padres, their team is no better than the Dodgers , Colorado or Arizona. They may end up with a better record than San Francisco but I don’t think Machado can or will make the Padres 20 games better this year, which is what they would need to finish above the rest of their division. Plus will he be happy playing half his games in a pitchers park……..we will see.

Bryce Harper - This is a great deal for both the Phillies and Harper. He is still young and his contract isn't even in the top 10 of the highest paid players next year. Better yet, it does not have an opt out. He is a Phillie and has a no trade clause (I know that can be waived). I know there are arguments that he will be 39 when the contract expires in a league that does not have a DH. While that is true now, who is to say that by year 5-6 of his contract the DH is not allowed in the National League. Also keep in mind, that he can still DH during interleague play. The team has him under control and at a very affordable amount, plus he will bring in other players. Not something I see Machado doing in San Diego. The Phillies were only 10 games out. They brought in some veterans and have a good core of youth. I think the future is bright. While it is true they will have a dog fight in their division, they still are considered a favorite in the NL East. They have improved their offense whose struggles the last month of the year cost them the division. Washington's team will take a step back, true their pitching got better but can they score runs? Atlanta will need to prove that last year was no fluke and the Mets will need to prove they can compete with the talent they have.