Quick Reaction: Fernando Tatis Jr. Signs Baseball's Longest Deal
(Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press) via bleacherreport
Fernando Tatis Jr. recently signed a massive 14 year $340 million extension with the San Diego Padres becoming the longest contract in baseball history.
This MLB offseason has been incredible this year and we’ve still got a ways to go. Tatis Jr. somehow finessed a massive $340 million extension out of the Padres. Oh, and by the way it’s their second $300 million contract because my man Manny Machado signed a 10-year $300 million contract back in 2019.
This means the Padres are spending over a half a billion dollars on just two players! If anybody would be worth it, it’s this duo. Machado has been hitting dingers in this league since 2012 and Tatis Jr. appears to be a generational talent that the Padres refuse to let slip form their hands. Tatis Jr. has barely played a full season in the big leagues yet the Padres gave him a massive payday.
In case you overlooked that last statement: Tatis Jr. has only played 143 games over 2 years, averaging .301 BA in his career thus far and has 39 home runs. Something doesn’t add up. For example, Mike Trout, arguably the best player of our generation, got rewarded for 9 solid seasons that ended up with 3 MVPs and he got the largest contract in baseball history. I understand guys like Trout getting a ridiculous amount of money like that, however, Tatis Jr. has only won a silver slugger award for the shortstop position. Not a long list of accolades just yet, but the Padres seem to have big hopes for their new franchise player.
I know Padres fans are going to say “He’s the face of the Padres, we gotta lock him up long-term” or “He’s making baseball fun again” or “Tatis is worth emptying a money truck.” Tatis Jr. has only shown a small sample size of what he can do, so seeing if he will be worth the money will be interesting this season. He has a lot of eyes on him for 2021.
If the Padres don’t win a World Series within the next 3 years, they're going to be in salary cap hell for the rest of his contract.
Once his contract is up, Tatis Jr. will be 36 years of age. I’m thinking the Padres are banking on him to stay injury free so he can bring home a World Series title to the West coast.
Another interesting aspect of this contract is that Tatis Jr. is coughing up $30 million to an investment firm he signed with as a teenager. It’s somewhat of a double-edged sword in the sense that sure, the firm is getting a big payday as well, but Tatis Jr. is forking over a tenth of his mega deal.