Padres' Manny Machado Undergoes Surgery on Elbow Injury; Will Miss 4-6 Months

The San Diego Padres' offseason isn't going much better than the team's regular season.

According to the Associated Press, star third baseman Manny Machado underwent "right elbow extensor tendon repair surgery" on Tuesday in Los Angeles, as performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache, an injury scheduled to keep him out of action for four to six months.

That means Machado could potentially be sidelined until sometime in April, causing him to miss the start of the 2024 season.

The 31-year-old Machado remains one of San Diego's most important players, and it's hard to put the blame for the team's disastrous 82-80 season—which saw them miss the playoffs despite having one of the most star-studded, expensive rosters in baseball—solely at his feet.

It wasn't a vintage year for the six-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove winner, though he still hit .258 with 30 homers, 91 RBI, 75 runs and a .782 OPS. That would be an excellent year for most players, though each of those stats was actually worse for Machado than they were in 2022 (.298, 32 homers, 102 RBI, 100 runs, .898 OPS).

Still, a core group of Machado, Juan Soto, Fernando Tatís Jr., Xander Bogaerts, Blake Snell, Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove and Josh Hader was expected to be a serious contender to win a title. Instead, the Padres are spending October on their couches.

"We're going to grow from this," Machado told reporters on Sept. 30. "...We're capable of playing better baseball than we did this year."

The Padres may have a much different look by the time Machado returns from his injury, however. The future of both manager Bob Melvin and general manager A.J. Preller is uncertain. Snell and Hader are free agents and will command major deals.

But a group of Machado, Soto, Tatís Jr., Bogaerts, Darvish and Musgrove would still be the envy of many teams around baseball. The Padres will be talented, no doubt, even if they start the season without their star third baseman.