The Padres hope to never have to see Fernando Tatis Jr. play a game in another uniform.
The team and its wonderkid shortstop took a giant step toward that aim Wednesday by agreeing to on a 14-year contract, according to multiple sources.
The deal is worth $340 million and is the longest in MLB history. It is the largest contract awarded a player not yet eligible for arbitration and is the third richest overall behind the $426.5 million over 12 years Mike Trout got from the Angels in 2019 and the $365 million for 12 years Mookie Betts received from the Dodgers last season.
“Whenever you’re trying to project (a bunch) of years out, you never really know,” Padres General Manager A.J. Preller said last week when asked about the risk inherent in g such a young player to a long-term deal. “But if you’re going to bet on somebody, it’s probably this guy.”
Tatis, who turned 22 on Jan. 2 and has two years of service time, has yet to play the equivalent of a full season. But he finished fourth in National League MVP voting in 2020 after batting .277 with a .937 OPS (on-base-plus slugging percentage) and 17 home runs, second most in the National League.
In 143 games since the start of the 2019 season, Tatis has a .301 average and .956 OPS. Those are numbers that compare favorably to the best players in history at that point in their careers. Tatis’ OPS, for example, is one point lower than Lou Gehrig through his first 143 games and 10 points higher than that of Trout.
“If there is a talented young player to give that kind of deal to, it is Fernando Tatis,” Padres outfielder Wil Myers said Wednesday night. “There is always a risk when you’re making a deal like that. But with him, I don’t think it’s that much of a risk.”
Tatis’ defense at shortstop was spectacular from the start and last year evened out to become more consistent. He led all shortstops and was second in the majors last season with seven outs above average, a metric that ostensibly measures how many outs a player has saved compared to an average player at his position.
It has been about as productive a start as the Padres could have asked for after acquiring Tatis as part of the June 4, 2016 trade that sent James Shields to the White Sox. Tatis was 17 at the time, and few outside of baseball knew anything about him. By 2018, he was one of baseball’s top 10 prospects. After essentially forcing the Padres’ hand with a torrid spring training, he made his major league debut on opening day in 2019.
The agreement comes on the day Padres pitchers and catchers reported to spring training and caps an offseason that saw the franchise add starting pitchers Yu Darvish, Blake Snell and Joe Musgrove via trade and sign infielder Ha-Seong Kim to a four-year, $28 million deal. Darvish is due $22 million this season and $59 million over the next three years. Snell will make $10.5 million in 2021 and $39 million the next three years. Musgrove will make $4.5 million this season before going into his final year of arbitration.
With Manny Machado’s 10-year, $300 million deal signed in 2019, the Padres have awarded two of the seven largest contracts in MLB history. Both Machado and Tatis are represented by agent Dan Lozano and MVP Sports Group.
Tatis also received a full no-trade provision.
The Padres and Tatis anticipated this pact for several months. The sides agreed during the summer they would begin serious talks in the offseason.
Preller visited the Dominican Republic shortly after the new year and told Tatis he would soon be opening discussions with the player’s agent. The Padres made their first formal offer at the end of January.
Preller and Lozano spoke regularly over the next couple weeks, discussing parameters and trading proposals. Tatis reported to the Peoria Sports Complex on Sunday, and there was optimism all around the sides were close to a deal.
Finally, on Wednesday, after a few more proposals sent back and forth on the complicated pact, the team informed Lozano the latest they had discussed were agreeable. The exact of when the money will be paid are still being finalized.
Tatis’ contract is far longer and richer than notable pacts given to other top young players in recent years. Most such contracts have generally extended just two or three seasons into a player’s free agency year.
Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr. got an eight-year, $100 million deal in 2019, when he was 21, after he had played less than a season. Houston’s Alex Bregman, then 25, received a five-year, $100 million contract in ‘19 after he played two-plus seasons. Trout, 22 at the time, was awarded six years and $144 million in 2014 after he had played two-plus seasons.
