Manny Machado - Baltimore Orioles third baseman

Manny Machado is going to get paid. He’s going to make a ton of money in fact. Good baseball players always do. Unfortunately for Machado, they usually don’t make that ton of money (by baseball player standards) until they have three years of service time.

Still, it won’t be long before Machado inks a big time, long-term deal. Hopefully that contract will come from the Orioles, but for now the young third baseman will make just $519,000.

In speaking with the Baltimore Sun’s Dan Connolly, Machado said that figure is “disappointing”.

“I’d love to be an Oriole forever. I love the organization, I love the fans here. I love everything about this, and putting the uniform on every day,” said Machado, who hit .283 with 14 home runs, 71 RBIs and a league-leading 51 doubles in 156 games in his first full major league season. “I just want to be treated fairly. That’s it.”

Machado’s comments may come as a surprise to many and may reflect poorly on the Orioles as an organization, but this opinion is actually not too uncommon. Just last season, Mike Trout‘s agent said almost the exact same thing. And hey, look at him, he’s making a million bucks this season.

Seriously though, Trout appears to be nearing a six-year deal with the Angels. I’m sure the O’s would like to work out something similar with their young phenom.

Machado’s 6.2 WAR season in 2013 was worth $31.1 million according to FanGraphs.com. Talk about a value for the Orioles. No wonder he’s so upset.