Baltimore Orioles' pitcher Alex Cobb talks about his former teammate, Manny Machado and the contract Machado signed with the San Diego Padres. (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun video)
With his reported 10-year, $300 million agreement with the San Diego Padres, former Orioles star Manny Machado's contract is the largest commitment to a position player since his former teammate, Chris Davis, signed with the Orioles for $161 million in January 2016.
Since then, free agent salaries have plummeted in a labor environment that doesn't give teams incentive to spend on veteran players, and baseball was in another major free agent lull before Machado reportedly agreed to the richest free agent contract in the game's history.