Fernando Tatis Jr.: A Closer Look Into His 14 Year, $340 million contract

News began circulating on Wednesday evening that the longest contract in sporting history had been negotiated. The San Diego Padres had, indeed, agreed to a 14 year, $340 million contract extension with their 22 year old Shortstop sensation, Fernando Tatis Jr.. After a swift trip to the calculator, one discovers that Tatis, who has played in just 143 Major League Baseball games, will be earning $24 million a year for the next 14 years. Absurd? Quite possibly, given that we are yet to see a full season from the Dominican. As the hard-hitting right-hander has competed in 84 and 59 games in his first two seasons respectively, the sample size remains relatively small. So…who receives the better deal? The fledgling phenom or the West Coast franchise hunting for their first World Series Title? Let’s take a look at this, the longest and third most expensive contract in MLB history, from both sides of the story.

For Tatis, it would be foolish to turn down such a mouth-watering, staggering amount of money which would, in turn, set him up for his entire life, having played fewer games in the majors than a complete MLB season. Not in any way his fault, of course, after the 2020 regular season was reduced to ‘just’ 60 games. To many, that may seem like an excessive number of fixtures at the best of times. But no, not in a sport that is used to 162-game seasons, close enough to half an entire year. Digression over, Tatis is nonetheless one of baseballs highest ranked players. There is recent evidence to reinforce this, too, as MLB themselves announced their Top 100 Players ahead of the hotly anticipated 2021 season. To perhaps even further surprise, Tatis slipped in at number 6 overall, sandwiched in between two more of baseball’s youngest hitting sensations; Atlanta Braves’ Ronald Acuña Jr. and Washington Nationals’ Juan Soto. In addition to Tatis’ big, sweaty wad of money, he receives a full no-trade clause and a signing-on bonus a little over $10 million, becoming the second MVP Sports client to land a $300 million plus deal since…Manny Machado, his own neighbour on the diamond.

There is a method behind the madness, however. Despite playing a relatively low number of games, Tatis has excelled at Major League level. In those 143 games, the young infielder has batted .301/.374/.582, with 39 home runs and 27 stolen bases. A home run every 3.6 games, although far from being the most important stat for a hitter, is nonetheless a remarkable achievement. As recognition, Tatis was awarded the Silver Slugger award and finished third overall in the National League MVP balloting. Not the worst start to a career in the Majors for a 22 year old, whose consistent performances are demonstrating why he held the former status as the top prospect in all of baseball before his call-up. Now, having firmly left his prospect status in the past, the Padres naturally feel comfortable in offering their most prized possession a colossal contract and, in turn, securing his services for much of his career.

The San Diego Padres are one of six Major League franchises yet to lift the World Series title. The sport is constantly evolving, with hefty $100+ million multi-year contracts becoming the norm. Major League Baseball has never housed such competition and, with franchises looking to lock up their talent for the future with vast sums of cash, it is a leading contributor of success.

An argument which supports the Padres’ philosophy is that there is great potential that $24 million a year may not be a considerably high figure for an elite player in the years to come. Of course, $24 million will always be an extraordinary amount of money for any athlete, but imagine eight or ten years from now, a player of Tatis’ calibre and age then could be looking at a far more significant sum of money. Although this is the longest length of contract ever seen in sport, there remains an abundance of Major League players who are actually earning considerably higher sums per annum. Gerrit Cole signed a 9 year, $324 million contract in 2020 with the New York Yankees, promising the starting pitcher $36 million a year. Baseball contracts are exponentially increasing in length and value and, with little signs of slowing, there is a perfectly sensible reason to believe that this Tatis contract could be an absolute steal for the Padres organisation in the years to follow.

Recent offseason additions, combined with the current talent they already possessed, will undeniably put them in brilliant stead ahead of the upcoming season. In short, they seem to be going all in, whilst also maintaining an element of sustainability that can be seen with Tatis. Recent trades with the Chicago Cubs and Tampa Bay Rays have seen the Padres strengthen their previously weakened starting rotation, as Yu Darvish and former Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell will take their talent to Southern California. Adding some consistent arms to a batting lineup which consists of Manny Machado, Eric Hosmer and Tommy Pham (to name a few), it breathes renewed hope to a franchise with only one goal in mind.

There lies one rather large obstacle in the way; some 120 miles north in the shape of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Three of the previous four World Series have featured this very franchise, with their name etched into the most recent title. As progressive and ambitious as the Padres are in offering Tatis this contract, Dodgers’ Mookie Betts is on a marginally shorter, yet more expensive contract (12 years, $365 million), further illustrating their intent to continue their current reign of dominance. Throw the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Francisco Giants into the equation, and the National League West becomes one of the toughest divisions in baseball. Competition is rife, but a franchise can only do so much within salary cap restraints. It appears, then, that the Padres are doing all they can to maximise their chances of winning and, as for Tatis, they will certainly be hoping that he is the key ingredient in securing the city its maiden World Series Title.