I think most are juicing. Absolutely. I'm not sure if you work out, but if you do, you'd know Trout ain't natty. It is what it is. I love to watch him play.
I'm a huge Robert fan, but I think you can argue that Moncada might have the highest ceiling in all of baseball. There's nothing he can't do exceptionally well. Tool wise, Robert reminds me of Mike Cameron. Off the top of my head, I can't think of another IF comp for Moncada.
Machado also compares to Beltre and Eric Chavez. I just don't see them as the franchise defining players I want to sink all my money into, although I've probably always underrated Beltre.
I don't care how I look. I dont know any of you and I'm not a very active poster. I went back to the beginning because, as I said, I'm not articulating it well. If you want to be dick about it, cool.
What if Machado is all the payroll flexibility they'll have moving forward? Obviously I'm not articulating this well. Let's say the Padres have a finite budget (obviously the Sox do), then is it wise to throw it all in the Machado basket? I don't think Machado is the player you want to go all in on.
Regardless, I'll go back to where the conversation started. 3 years from now, I'd rather have an infield of Moncada, Anderson and Madrigal with payroll flexibility than Machado, Anderson and Moncada without any payroll flexibility.
The only thing you can really take issue with is the "future fat guy" comment. He was a SS last year. He wasn't very good there. Hes not elite, but he is very good overall. I'm not really seeing the issue. Elite players don't sign with the Padres or Sox. I guess not thinking Machado is a future hall of famer is somehow offensive.