Machado: “I’ve never seen a team rebuild that quickly"

SAN DIEGO – Manny Machado dug in against Orioles closer Félix Bautista last night with two Padres on base and one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, back-to-back walks allowing him to represent the potential tying run. Machado took a 101.2 mph fastball out of the strike zone, missed a 100.4 mph fastball, offered at a splitter and grounded it to third baseman Ramón Urías for the game-ending double play.

One team moved a season-high 29 games above .500. The other kept spiraling downward.

The Orioles hadn’t played the Padres since 2019, a year after former executive Dan Duquette began the complete teardown of the club by trading Machado to the Dodgers for five players, including starter Dean Kremer.

Closer Zack Britton was gone a week later, followed by relievers Brad Brach and Darren O’Day, starter Kevin Gausman and second baseman Jonathan Schoop.  

The competitive window slammed shut, and the only sounds left were goodbyes and some tears.

Machado signed with the Padres in 2019 and agreed to an extension this spring that paid $350 million over 11 years, the fourth highest in major league history.

The Orioles went through the predictable pains of the rebuild, twice earning the first-overall draft pick and selecting No. 2 in 2020. They finished above .500 last year and own the best record in the American League heading into tonight’s game.

“It’s definitely fast,” Machado said yesterday afternoon. “I’ve never seen a team rebuild that quickly. … This year they’ve shown that they can take the East. It’s impressive to see that in such a short period of time, what they’re doing over there.”

The Orioles made the playoffs in 2012 after calling up Machado from Double-A Bowie, and again in 2014 and ’16. They seem ready again to burst past the regular season and keep playing.

“Takes me back to when I played there,” said Machado, the third-overall pick in the 2010 draft. “Winning baseball, and obviously, they brought back that culture. It’s been a big sports city for a long time, so to see them clean house and rebuild that in a short period of time, to be where they’re at today is pretty impressive.”

The roster turnover hasn’t left many players from Machado’s days with the Orioles. He had brief periods with former Rule 5 pick Anthony Santander and Austin Hays. Cedric Mullins arrived a month after Machado was traded.

You can’t clip those wings. And Orioles roots don’t dissolve.

“Baseball grows on you in many ways, but at the end of the day, you never forget where you come from,” Machado said. “I grew up in Miami, and Baltimore gave me an opportunity to live my dream. Now I’m here, living in one of the best cities in the world, playing in a great organization, trying to compete for a World Series.

“It’s crazy how baseball turns out, and it’s a beautiful thing.”

Ryan Flaherty also was an Orioles rookie in 2012 but as a Rule 5 pick from the Cubs organization, and he appeared in seven games in the 2014 playouts after Machado suffered another knee injury in August.

“Everyone knows that it’s a baseball city and what it can be like,” said Flaherty, who’s the Padres bench coach and offensive coordinator. “Just talking to the guys, (Anthony) Santander and (Adam) Frazier and those guys, they expressed that the crowds are back and they’re winning, and it’s exciting for the city. They deserve a winner.

“I feel like the last couple years people felt it coming. Obviously, where they positioned themselves and the position they got to last year, everyone could feel that this year was probably going to be the year for them. And so far, it has been.”

The Padres didn’t sell at the deadline and they’ve fallen seven games below .500. The playoffs aren’t happening without an abrupt turnaround and a lot of luck.

The Orioles don’t have much postseason experience on their active roster – pitchers Kyle Gibson, Jack Flaherty and Jacob Webb, catcher James McCann, infielder Adam Frazier and outfielder Aaron Hicks. You have to experience it to truly understand.

“It’s just different,” Machado said. “It’s more than just baseball. You’re always playing for a city, you’re always playing for an organization. So, at the end of the day, it’s bigger than that. But it’s fun. This is what we play for as a kid.

“My first one, I remember, I always dreamed about it and I was 20-years-old when I got called up and I was able to go out and play my first postseason game, against one of the best teams in baseball the last five years in Texas. To go there and play, it was just a dream come true.”