The richest free agent contract in baseball history lured Manny Machado to San Diego last February. Not long after, Bryce Harper’s pact with the Phillies one-upped Machado’s and Mike Trout’s 12-year, $430 million extension with the Angels outdid them all.
Eight months later, the Padres and Angels are looking for new field managers and Gabe Kapler, as of Tuesday morning, was still waiting to hear if he’d be kept on for a third season with the underachieving Phillies.
Clearly, big money equals big expectations.
Of course, the front offices in San Diego and Anaheim — and across the game — have to have a lot more than just one marketable name to entice the right man to take the job.