Padres and Fernando Tatis Jr. agree to a 14-year, $340 contract extension
Credit: Padres
The San Diego Padres and Fernando Tatis Jr.agreed on a 14-year extension on Wednesday.
The face of Major League Baseball will be in San Diego for a very long time.
According to Kevin Acee, the San Diego Padres and star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. agreed to a 14-year, $340 million deal on Wednesday afternoon.
It is the longest contract in MLB history, passing Bryce Harper and Giancarlo Stanton‘s contracts in terms of length.
Fernando Tatis Jr. and the Padres have agreed on a 14-year contract.
— Kevin Acee (@sdutKevinAcee) February 18, 2021
The contract will cover Tatis through his age-35 season. includes a full no-trade clause and comes with a signing bonus of $10 million. None of the money will be deferred.
The 22-year-old has two years of service under his belt and is yet to enter arbitration. With his new contract, he has shattered Mike Trout‘s pre-arbitration record of $144.5 million.
A contract extension had been brewing throughout the offseason as both sides agreed to negotiate a deal during the winter offseason. Talks accelerated once Padres General Manager A.J. Preller visited the Dominican Republic in January to see Tatis personally.
Tatis finished fourth in National League MVP voting and won a Silver Slugger after batting .277/.366/.571 with 17 home runs and posting a .956 OPS.
While he struggled with his defense during his rookie season, Tatis showed noticeable improvement. He led all shortstops with seven outs above average, a statistic used to measure how many outs a player has saved than an average player at his position.
Tatis has become one of the most popular athletes not just in baseball but in the entire sports world. His electric playstyle and infectious personality have revolutionized baseball, and was named the cover athlete of MLB The Show 21.
Tatis stated in the past that he wishes to remain a Padre for the rest of his life. With this contract, his wish has been fulfilled.
I am currently attending San Diego State University while working on achieving a major in journalism. At SDSU, I write for The Daily Aztec while also hosting the sports radio show “Picked Off”, for KCR Radio. A loyal fan of San Diego sports, I hope to bring content that you will enjoy reading.