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Fernando Tatis Jr.

Tatis: “Nothing Happening Out There Yet” On Contract Extension

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An extension with star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. was reportedly one of the Padres’ offseason goals, though it doesn’t appear as if much progress has been made on that front.  In a radio interview on the Ben & Woods morning show (Twitter link), Tatis said he and his representatives at the MVP Sports Group would “talk about it if the Padres come with something, but there’s nothing happening out there yet.”

While Padres general manager A.J. Preller was “definitely not looking to comment publicly” on the status of negotiations during his own Ben & Woods interview (Twitter link), Preller indicated that the club did want to “explore every option and possibility” in terms of a potential long-term agreement with Tatis.  “We’ll sit down with him and his representatives when the time is right here, and kind of get a feel for where they’re at and see if there’s something there,” Preller said.

The fact that talks have seemingly yet to truly begin isn’t necessarily a sign that an extension couldn’t still happen before Opening Day or shortly into the season, as many teams don’t turn their attention to extension talks whatsoever until Spring Training.  Of course, there also isn’t any immediate urgency to get a deal done since Tatis is under team control through the 2024 season — the shortstop has two remaining years as a pre-arbitration player, and then three seasons of arbitration eligibility.

Gaining some additional control (not to mention cost certainty) over Tatis would certainly be of interest to the Padres, as Tatis has one of the brightest futures of any player in the sport.  The 21-year-old is coming off a rookie season that saw him hit .317/.379/.590 with 22 home runs over 372 plate appearances.  This was despite a pair of injured list stints due to a hamstring strain, and then a back strain that ended Tatis’ season in mid-August.

Should Tatis continue to perform at this high level over the next five years, he would be on track for free agency heading into his age-26 season and be in line for a monster payday on the open market, more than likely over the $400MM threshold.  San Diego knows a thing or two about spending big on a 26-year-old free agent, having just dropped $300MM on Manny Machado (another MVP Sports Group client, of note) last winter.  Locking up even one or two of Tatis’ free agent years as part of a long-term deal could end up being quite a bargain for the Padres, and by that same token, Tatis could be open to an extension that gives him financial security now, yet also doesn’t prevent him from free agency before his 30th birthday.

Some larger factors could also be at play, as The Athletic’s Dennis Lin (subscription required) raised the possibility that Tatis and other younger players might hold off on extensions “with the idea that the next collective bargaining agreement will change the structures of club control and free agency.”  The current CBA expires in December 2021, so assuming a new labor agreement is in place prior to the start of the 2022 season, Tatis would still have three years remaining as a Padre and potentially a new range of contractual options to consider from a negotiating perspective.  Perhaps as a nod to how a new CBA would impact the status quo, ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan reported yesterday that multiple teams were looking to lock up pre-arbitration players to extensions in the next few weeks.

Padres Not Playing At Top Of Free Agent Market

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The Padres, along with the Braves, have thus far born the brunt of the burden in stoking the hot stove fire, but San Diego doesn’t anticipate being players at the top of the free agent market, per The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Kevin Acee. Given the enormity of the task ahead of them – dethroning the Dodgers from their perch atop the NL West – it was natural to assume GM A.J. Preller might go for the hat trick and score another big ticket free agent. Plus, hometown kid and confirmed playoff ace Stephen Strasburg is taking meetings, and the Padres could use a slide-stopping ace to stabilize their young rotation. But alas, the Padres don’t plan on meeting Scott Boras about either Gerrit Cole or Strasburg.

Two nine-figure free agents and the promotions of top prospects like Fernando Tatis Jr. and Chris Paddack could not stop the string of losing season for the Padres in 2019. They stretched their streak to nine while reaching 90 losses for the fourth consecutive year. The good news for Padres fans is that even though they don’t plan on attracting another top tier free agent – help is on the way. Per Acee’s sources, Preller doesn’t feel compelled to sign a top free agent ace is because he is confident in their ability to grow them from the ground up. Both MacKenzie Gore and Luis Patino have the potential to join Paddack atop the rotation in the next couple years.

Gore, 21 by Opening Day, made five starts in Double-A after blistering High-A with a 1.02 ERA in 79 1/3 innings. That’s not a typo. The young southpaw gave up just 36 hits, 20 walks, and 9 earned runs while playing for the Lake Elsinore Storm. He struck out 110 batters, good for 12.5 K/9. He is baseball’s 4th best prospect per Baseball America and MLB.com, #5 by Fangraphs.

Patino ranks as the 30th best prospect in the sport by MLB.com, 26th by Fangraphs, 29th by Baseball America. Though eight months younger than Gore, they’re on the same development track as of now. Patino registered a 2.69 ERA in High-A while little more than four years younger than league average.

Needless to say, the future is bright in San Diego, but there are pressing concerns for the present still on the docket. Preller is on the lookout for at least one reliever, potentially a starting catcher, while adding another rotation arm remains in the mix. Financially, it’s tight. They may look to shed some salary in the coming days. The payroll has already climbed north of $140MM. Per Cot’s Contracts, they ran a $97MM payroll on Opening Day last year and only once have they opened a season with a payroll over $100MM (2015).

Padres Will Attempt To Extend Fernando Tatis Jr.

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The Padres will attempt to work out a long-term deal with budding superstar Fernando Tatis Jr., according to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. The timing of negotiations and the organization’s spending tolerances aren’t known, but it seems the club will make a real push to agree to terms before the start of the 2020 season.

Tatis is exceptionally youthful; he won’t celebrate his 21st birthday until the new year. And he’s exceptionally talented, as evidenced by a thrilling rookie campaign. The debut effort was cut short by injury, but not before Tatis turned in 372 innings of .317/.379/.590 hitting with 22 home runs and a boat load of highlight reel contributions. He could stand to smooth out his glovework and cut back on the strikeouts, but that showing was a full-blown success regardless.

At this time last year, you could’ve said many of the same things about precocious Braves slugger Ronald Acuna Jr., who ended up signing a stunning $100MM extension that gave the team control over ten seasons of likely superstardom. That pact entered an unprecedented realm for early-career contracts, but it was also arguably the easiest nine-figure deal ever signed by a professional baseball team.

Acee rightly notes the Acuna contract as a highly relevant comp in the case of Tatis. No doubt the team will try to frame it as a ceiling, or at worst a direct comp, while nudging Tatis back down toward the other major contracts inked by burgeoning young stars last winter — the $43MM deal between Eloy Jimenez and the White Sox and the $35MM agreement the Braves scored with Ozzie Albies.

But there’s no question Tatis belongs in the Acuna stratosphere as a player. And his reps at MVP Sports can make an argument that he ought to earn more — supposing his injury woes are just a blip, at least. First and foremost, the Acuna contract doesn’t need to function in any way to limit what Tatis can and should demand for his own services. If he’s interested in a deal, Tatis can do his own math on his future free agent earnings and whether and how he’s willing to discount them. It’s eminently arguable that Acuna is undercompensated for his immense ability; Tatis doesn’t need to make the same bargain.

Then there’s the fact that Tatis is a season ahead in the service-time game than Acuna was this time last year, owing to the Friars’ decision to put him on the Opening Day roster in 2020. That surprising decision by the San Diego organization last spring was a notable gambit that could factor heavily in this new contract push. It gave leverage to Tatis, who’s a full year closer to the open market than he would have been had the team waited a few weeks to call him up. But the risky ploy may also have been part of the team’s now-evident effort to do everything it can to ensconce Tatis as a franchise-defining star for the bulk of his career. The goodwill generated by the on-time promotion might help the team secure a monster contract that’s laden with value for the organization. The tens of millions more it could in theory cost to get the deal done? That’s secondary to the ability to complete such a pact with a player of this kind.

Padres Notes: Tatis, Paddack, Mejia

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The latest from America’s Finest City, where a midseason malaise will keep the long-suffering Padres out of postseason play for the 13th consecutive season . . .

  • Wunderkind Fernando Tatis Jr., who’s hit the shelf with a serious injury for the third time in the last calendar year, has no plans to change his hyper-aggressive manner on the field, writes MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell. “No, absolutely not,” Tatis responded when posed with the question. “If it’s part of it, it’s part of it. But I’m not going to change my game at all.” The team, though, won’t sit by in deference: “Nobody’s looking to change him much or at all,”  Padres manager Andy Green noted. “But there will be moments in time where he learns, through time, that he doesn’t need to take a chance. That’s not necessarily saying he’s going to play soft or step off the gas pedal. He’ll play very similar to the way he always has. That’s the way we want him to play. He will continue to learn and grow the more he plays.” A public position slightly hedged typically means a great deal more beneath the surface, so it’s almost certain the club’ll place caution at the center of its future messages to the young star. Tatis’ .317/.379/.590 line was slightly inflated by an obviously unsustainable .410 BABIP this season, with Statcast pegging the rookie as the NL’s luckiest hitter in ’19, but it was nonetheless a banner debut for ESPN’s #1 overall prospect entering the season.
  • Fellow rookie Chris Paddack, whose relentless first-half assault on National League hitters has been thwarted by further exposure and the absence of a quality third offering, isn’t on a concrete innings limit, as Cassavell explores in a separate piece. A 2016 Tommy John Surgery limited the righty to just 90 IP in 2018, but the club has no plans to clot his late-season leak: “That’s not where my head is,” manager Andy Green said. “Get him back on the bump, attack again, overcome. Obviously if there’s something going on, that would change my mind quickly. But I think health-wise, he feels good.” After a solid first-half showing, in which the 23-year-old’s typically dominant K/BB was marred only by a 1.31 HR/9 mark, Paddack has been drilled in 35 post-all-star-break innings, allowing nine homers and as many doubles en route to a .507 slugging percentage against and 5.56 FIP. The former eighth rounder out of a Texas high school is author to perhaps the most impressive minor-league numbers since the days of Tim Lincecum, but may find his relentless zone-pounding in need of curation.
  • Catcher Francisco Mejia, who appears now to have wrestled full-time duties away from incumbent Austin Hedges, looks to be finding his stride in the season’s second half. The 23-year-old’s 142 wRC+, on the back of a much-improved 7.5% BB rate, ranks fifth among MLB catchers over that span. The once-undiscerning backstop has also sliced his strikeout rate nearly 10% from last season’s 30.6% mark, and is now chasing pitches at a far-more-respectable rate. Mejia will still need to improve his much-maligned (in prospect circles) defense to fulfill his lofty upside, but the Friars may well have found their backstop of the future.

Fernando Tatis Jr. Expected To Miss Remainder Of Season

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Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. is expected to miss the remainder of the season, manager Andy Green tells reporters including Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter link). The exceptional rookie is dealing with a back issue that drove him to the injured list earlier today and is evidently more serious than had originally been hoped.

It’s exceedingly disappointing news for fans of the San Diego organization, who have long awaited the arrival of a superstar of just this kind. Tatis has more than justified the hype that preceded his ascension to the majors at the outset of the season.

Through 372 plate appearances, Tatis carries an eye-popping .317/.379/.590 batting line with 22 home runs and 16 steals. He’s not carrying the greatest strikeout and walk numbers, lagging the league average in both areas, but has had little trouble making loud contact. Tatis is also a big positive on the bases and has shown a flair for the dramatic in the field — even if metrics aren’t glowing in their overall evaluation of his fielding performance.

Details on the injury still aren’t fully known, but it’s not difficult to see the reasoning behind the pessimistic outlook. There isn’t much reason to push a rehab schedule to get Tatis back in the bigs for a brief stretch, particularly if it means risking a more significant injury. The Padres aren’t going to crack the postseason this year regardless.

That said, it’s still a tough pill to swallow. The Friars drew ample attention when they carried Tatis on the Opening Day roster, passing on a chance to gain an extra season of control by holding him down for a few weeks to open the season. That was a questionable, if ultimately admirable, decision that obviously paid off in some ways even if it means some future sacrifices. The club will now lose the chance to draw fans to the yard to see Tatis over the next six weeks. Regardless, Tatis is one of the most exciting and most valuable player assets in the game.

Padres To Place Tatis, Kinsler On Injured List

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The Padres will place infielders Fernando Tatis Jr. and Ian Kinsler on the injured list, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. It was already known that a back issue — now reported to be a strain — would likely send Tatis to the IL for the second time this season. A herniated disk in Kinsler’s neck will send him there alongside Tatis. Infielder Ty France and outfielder Travis Jankowski are coming up from Triple-A to fill the two roster spots.

Tatis is still undergoing tests, though Acee writes that the Padres hope he’s able to return in a couple of weeks. A timeline for Kinsler is less clear. With the Padres eight games below .500 and out of the playoff racing barring a stunning resurgence, the loss of Tatis doesn’t impact the postseason picture. However, a second stint on the IL throws a wrench into the 20-year-old Tatis’ Rookie of the Year candidacy. The young phenom is hitting .317/.379/.590 with 22 homers and 16 stolen bases in just 84 games this season. Kinsler, meanwhile, has seen his role dramatically reduced amid a career-worst season at the plate and was hitting just .217/.278/.368 through 281 plate appearances in the first season of a two-year, $8MM contract.

This’ll mark the season debut for Jankowski, 28, who began the season on the 60-day injured list due to a broken wrist. He’s batted .299/.387/.343 in 155 plate appearances with Triple-A El Paso since his wrist healed up to the point where he could return to the field. Jankowski, who’ll be arbitration-eligible this winter, is a lifetime .242/.319/.321 hitter in 953 plate appearances. Depending on how he performs, Jankowski could represent either a trade candidate or a non-tender candidate this winter.

France will return to the big leagues after posting a lackluster .235/.290/.357 batting line in 107 plate appearances earlier this season. However, France has posted an absurd .399/.477/.770 batting line with 27 home runs and 27 doubles apiece in just 76 games (348 plate appearances). The 25-year-old will have a tough path to regular MLB playing time with Manny Machado, Tatis and Eric Hosmer locked into three of the four infield positions and Luis Urias the likely second baseman of the future. France, though, could serve as a utility player who can play multiple positions for the Friars in the future, and his terrific numbers in Triple-A should put him in position for a long-term opportunity to do so. He’s controllable through at least the 2025 season.

Padres Likely To Place Fernando Tatis Jr. On Injured List

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The Padres are likely to place phenom Fernando Tatis Jr. on the injured list because of back spasms, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets. Tatis departed Tuesday’s game because of the issue and then sat out Wednesday.

This will be the second IL stint of the season for Tatis, a 20-year-old rookie shortstop who has been among the majors’ best players – first year or otherwise – in 2019. Although he missed a month earlier in the season with a hamstring strain, Tatis has still managed to slash an excellent .317/.379/.590 (149 wRC+) with 22 home runs, 16 steals and 3.7 fWAR across 372 plate appearances. Tatis may join Mets first baseman Pete Alonso as the leading NL Rookie of the Year vote-getters at season’s end, though having a pair of IL trips under his belt could help prevent the Padre from winning the award.

Regardless of whether he takes home any hardware this year, Tatis has the talent to end up in the running for plenty of accolades in the future. With that in mind, the Padres will surely be cautious with Tatis as he works his way back from this injury – especially considering they’re all but out of playoff contention. However, the club is hopeful he’ll be able to return after 10 days off, according to Acee.

Padres Reportedly Willing To Trade Most Position Players

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Padres outfielder Hunter Renfroe has come up in trade rumors this week, and the club is indeed willing to deal the 27-year-old slugger, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. However, Renfroe’s not the only Padre who could end up on the move before the July 31 trade deadline. The team’s willing to give up “virtually” any of its position players except for shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr., third baseman Manny Machado and first baseman Eric Hosmer, according to Acee.

The Padres’ goal in dealing from its current position player cast would be to upgrade offensively at two spots – catcher and center field – and add “young arms,” per Acee. Their desire to pick up controllable pitching has long been known, though it’s interesting they want a better offensive backstop.

Major leaguers Austin Hedges and Austin Allen haven’t hit, but Triple-A catcher Francisco Mejia rode his potential at the plate into high rankings on prospect lists not long ago. As recently as last summer, when the Padres acquired Mejia from the Indians for relievers Brad Hand and Adam Cimber, Keith Law of ESPN regarded Mejia as one of the game’s top five farmhands. While Mejia has struggled mightily in the majors since then, he’s still just 23 and has tallied a mere 134 plate appearances in the bigs. It’s unclear from Acee’s report whether the Padres would be open to parting with Mejia, who has raked since they optioned him to the minors last month, or if they just don’t think he’s ready to make an offensive impact at the game’s highest level yet.

The 26-year-old Hedges has made an MLB impact, meanwhile, but almost solely behind the plate. Hedges rates as an elite defender, and though he was a respectable offensive player just last season, he otherwise hasn’t hit much since his 2015 debut.

Likewise, center fielder Manuel Margot has seldom hit since the Padres first promoted him in 2015. There has been talk of San Diego demoting him to the minors to help alleviate its outfield logjam. But as a 24-year-old speedster who has excelled in the field and won’t reach arbitration until the offseason, he’d likely draw interest on the trade market.

Perhaps aside from Renfroe, right fielder Franmil Reyes stands out as the Padres’ most valuable trade chip among position players. They offer similar offensive skill sets, and Renfroe’s a much better defender, though Reyes is three-plus years younger. Set to turn 24 in July, Reyes has slashed .263/.320/.520 (123 wRC+) with 35 home runs in 516 PA since he first came up last season. Further increasing Reyes’ appeal, he’s earning a minimal salary and isn’t scheduled to reach arbitration until after the 2021 season.

If the Padres keep Renfroe and Reyes, perhaps they’d consider trading fellow corner outfielder Josh Naylor. The 21-year-old Naylor hasn’t gotten off to a strong start since the Padres promoted him May 24, but he’s a top 100 prospect or close to it. Franchy Cordero, yet another of their young corner outfielders, seems likely to stay put when considering his recent injury issues. Cordero, 24, has missed most of the past season-plus with right elbow issues, and he suffered a mild quad injury while rehabbing this week.

As for the rest of San Diego’s roster, outfielder Wil Myers and second baseman Ian Kinsler jump to the fore as players the team would probably like to move. The trade value is minimal in both cases, though.

Myers, 28, hasn’t lived up to the six-year, $83MM contract the Padres gave him in January 2017. They backloaded the deal, meaning he’s owed almost $63MM through 2022 (including a $1MM buyout in ’23). Although Myers was a 30-home run hitter as recently as 2017, he’s still just a .242/.324/.450 batter (106 wRC+) dating back to then.

Kinsler, 36, joined the Padres on a two-year, $8MM contract in the offseason. While Kinsler has long been a quality major leaguer, the Padres haven’t gotten much return on their investment so far. Kinsler has hit .204/.264/.387 (72 wRC+) with minus-0.3 fWAR in 201 PA., though he has fared much better following an ice-cold April (.262/.309/.505 since May 1). Regardless of whether the Padres find a taker for Kinsler, it seems like only a matter of time before he loses his starting spot to standout prospect Luis Urias.

After a surprisingly competitive start to the season, San Diego has begun fading from the National League playoff race. Losers of five straight, the Padres sit 33-36 and 5 1/2 games out of wild-card position. However, with the talent already on hand and the high-potential players baking in the minors, the club may not be far away from contending on an annual basis. It seems general manager A.J. Preller will operate aggressively over the next month-plus in an effort to better position his roster to accomplish that. With that in mind, the Padres should be a compelling team to watch leading up to the deadline.

Padres Activate Fernando Tatis Jr.

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June 6: The Padres announced that Tatis has indeed been activated. France was optioned to Triple-A El Paso in a corresponding move.

June 5: The Padres are planning to activate shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. from the 10-day injured list Thursday, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

Tatis’ comeback will be a long-awaited return for the Padres, who have gone just 15-19 since the 20-year-old rookie last played April 28. San Diego jumped out to a 16-12 start with Tatis before he suffered a left hamstring strain. At that point, Tatis may have been the NL Rookie of the Year front-runner. He batted .300/.360/.550 with six home runs and six steals in 111 plate appearances prior to his IL placement, thus delivering on the considerable hype he garnered in his days as a minor leaguer.

Thanks in part to Tatis’ output thus far, the 31-31 Padres are within three games of a wild-card spot in the National League. The Padres haven’t earned a playoff berth since 2006, but if they’re going to return to the postseason this year, a healthy Tatis will likely play a key role. No matter how this season shakes out for the Friars, it’s fair to say Tatis is a sizable upgrade over Greg Garcia and Ty France – who have gotten significant playing time as a result of his injury.

Garcia and France have filled in at third during Tatis’ absence, while Manny Machado has occupied shortstop instead of the hot corner. Fortunately for San Diego, though, it appears Tatis and Machado are about to reunite along the left side of its infield.

Fernando Tatis Jr. To Begin Rehab Assignment On Monday

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TODAY: Tatis will begin his rehab assignment at the Padres’ Double-A affiliate on Monday, Andy Green told MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell and other reporters.

SATURDAY: Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. has been out since late April with a left hamstring strain, but it appears he’s nearing a return to game action. The rookie sensation could start a rehab assignment at “the beginning of next week,” according to manager Andy Green (via Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune). Barring setbacks, Tatis would then have 20 days to return to the majors.

At the time of his injury on April 28, Tatis was perhaps the early front-runner for National League Rookie of the Year honors. The 20-year-old slashed .300/.360/.550 (139 wRC+) with six home runs and six steals over his first 111 plate appearances in the bigs.

Tatis’ production helped San Diego to a 16-12 start, but the club has gone just 14-15 without him. Nevertheless, the surprising Padres (30-27) are within a mere half-game of a wild-card spot, and they’ll likely need a healthy Tatis back for a chance to snap their 12-year playoff drought.

The Padres’ shortstop position has been in the capable hands of Manny Machado during Tatis’ absence, which has left third base to Greg Garcia and Ty France. While the lefty-swinging Garcia has batted a solid .264/.364/.407 (110 wRC+) in 107 trips to the plate, the righty-hitting France has only mustered a .230/.292/.368 slash (77 wRC+) in 96 PA.

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