SAN DIEGO – In discussing options for a long-term deal with the exciting young short stop Fernando Tatis Jr., the San Diego Padres brought up the concept of “a statue contract”.
As in, if the kid is as good as Hall of Famers Tony Gwynn and Trevor Hoffman were, maybe in 15 or 20 years’ time there will be a statue of ‘El Niño’ next to those Padres greats in a grassy area just beyond Petco Park .
The options were year-to-year, a multi-year deal buying up a year or two of Tatis’ free agency or a contract that would likely see Tatis spend the rest of his career with the Padres.
“In typical Tati fashion, his only real comment was, ‘Why not my whole career?’” Said general manager AJ Preller on Monday when he announced that the two sides had signed Tatis’ $ 340 million contract, the longest in baseball history.
“He wanted to be one of those very unique players who plays his career in one place,” said Preller. “He loves the franchise, he loves the city, he loves his teammates and he spoke a lot about really wanting to get on the path of that statue contract.”
Tatis said, “I want the statue on one team. I want to be able to stay on one team and build my legacy here in San Diego.”
If Tatis and the Padres are right, the big decision will be which version of “El Niño” the statue shows: the one who makes smooth plays on short stops, the one with a “Matrix” type moves to avoid being tagged out at first base or the one with the epic bat flip after homering for the second time in a playoff game?
“I’m going to put those numbers first and then we can talk about it,” Tatis said with a laugh during a video conference of spring training in Peoria, Arizona. ‘I do not know. Maybe we can have three statues in different ways. We’ll see what happens. ‘
Tatis, 22, was eligible for salary arbitration after this season and for free employment agency after the 2024 season.
A son of former big league-infielder Fernando Tatis, he played in only 143 games over two seasons, including the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, but has quickly become one of the faces of baseball.
He stands out for his flair, easy smile, blond dreadlocks flowing from under his cap and dance moves in the dugout after hitting home runs.
Most importantly to the Padres, Tatis has made baseball fun again in San Diego after years of uselessness. He helped San Diego end a 13-year playoff drought in 2020 and win a wildcard series against the St. Louis Cardinals before the Padres were swept by the rival Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Division Series.
‘I’m just the same guy on the field. Nothing is going to change, ”he said. “I play the game I love. And I feel that when you do things with passion and love, I feel like it will reward you. And I feel like people are asking me how I’m going to play this game,” I’ll just be the same kid every time. “
Tatis has dared to question old-fashioned standards. After hitting his second homerun in an 11-9 win in Game 2 of the wildcard series against the Cardinals, he unleashed an emphatic bat flip. A photo of Tatis at the time is on the cover of the video game “MLB The Show 21.”
In August, Tatis caused a stir when he hit a grand slam on a 3-0 count, with the Padres leading the Texas Rangers by seven runs. The furor subsided and the Padres became the first team in MLB history to hit grand slams in four consecutive games and five in six games, earning the nickname “Slam Diego”.
“He has a tremendous amount of respect for the game of baseball. A lot was made last year, young players changed the game of baseball,” said Preller. “What leads to success doesn’t really change from era to era. Some styles change, maybe some skills change sometimes, but he respects greatness, he respects the people who have gone before him. That credit goes to his family.”
Tatis has hit .301 with 39 home runs, 98 RBI’s and 27 stolen bases in 143 games.
San Diego promoted Tatis to the majors on its opening day of 2019 and left the chance to slow down his free agency by waiting a few weeks – a reality of the game experienced by other young stars like Kris Bryant with the Chicago Cubs and Bryce Harper with the Nationals of Washington.
The duration of Tatis’ contract exceeds the $ 325 million, 13-year deal in November 2014 between Miami and Giancarlo Stanton, which was traded to the New York Yankees in December 2017, and the $ 330 million, 13-year contract prior to the 2019 season between Harper and Philadelphia.
Baseball’s largest deal in dollar terms remains Mike Trout’s $ 426.5 million, 12-year contract signed with the Angels in March 2019. Tatis ‘deal is the third largest, also after Mookie Betts’ $ 365 million, 12-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers that starts. this season.