The San Diego Padres have their franchise player and they aren’t letting him go away any time soon. According to MLB insider Robert Murray, Fernando Tatis Jr. is signing a massive contract extension to stay with the Padres for more than a decade.
Murray reports that the deal is for $340 million, over 14 years. This for a player who has yet to even play 150 games at the big league level. Still, the contract show just how talented Tatis is, as he has proven to be one of the best young shortstops in all of baseball.
In 2019, Tatis may have given Pete Alonso a run for his money in the Rookie of the Year race had a back injury not cut his season short after just 84 games played. Despite the injury, Tatis still finished third in the voting after hitting .317/.379/.590, with a .969 OPS and a 150 wRC+.
Last season, Tatis helped lead the Padres into the playoffs by hitting .277/.366/.571, with a .937 and a 149 wRC+ across 59 games played. Tatis finished fourth in the MVP voting, just behind his teammate Manny Machado, who came in third.
Both Tatis and Machado won the Silver Slugger at their respective positions in 2020, as San Diego now has that dynamic combination locked up on the same side of the infield until 2029.
Tatis is the type of five-tool superstar every team is looking to find and the Padres were wise to lock him up to this deal now, because he would have only gotten more expensive over time.
