14-yr. deal! Tatis in SD for long haul (sources) - MLB.com

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SAN DIEGO -- The man at the center of the Padres' renaissance is staying in San Diego for a long, long time.

Fernando Tatis Jr., a 22-year-old shortstop with generational talent and generational flair, has agreed to a 14-year contract worth $340 million, sources told MLB.com on Wednesday. The club has not yet confirmed the deal.

The landmark deal is MLB's third-largest contract extension in terms of new total money added and the longest in terms of years added to a player's contract. Tatis' extension begins this year and contains a full no-trade clause, a source told MLB.com's Mark Feinsand. It also contains a signing bonus north of $10 million, and none of the money is deferred.

As the Padres embarked on a wild offseason overhaul that saw them revamp and retool their roster into a World Series contender, their focal point remained locking up Tatis in the long term. That came to fruition in recent weeks.

Two years ago, San Diego agreed with Manny Machado on a then-franchise-record $300 million deal. At the same time, another superstar was emerging on the left side of the Padres' infield.

Tatis burst onto the scene as a rookie in 2019, then followed it with an MVP-caliber display in '20. He batted .277/.366/.571 with 17 home runs and 11 steals. Tatis finished fourth in National League MVP Award voting and was the catalyst behind the team’s Wild Card Series comeback against St. Louis.

When the Padres lost to the Dodgers in the following round, Tatis said simply: “This is a growing pain. We're just getting started.”

The Padres had built a contender, and Tatis was at the center of it. This long-term marriage was an obvious one. Tatis embraced the city, and the city embraced Tatis. Now he’s poised to spend the next 14 years in San Diego.

Though he has logged less than the equivalent of one season in the Majors, Tatis is off to a historic start, as his 39 homers are the most by any primary shortstop through his first 150 career games. He also made massive gains defensively in Year 2 and possesses one of baseball’s strongest infield throwing arms.

No question, the contract comes with a measure of risk, considering that Tatis has played only 143 career games. But the Padres clearly think a player of his caliber is well worth it.

To go along with five ridiculous tools, Tatis' magnetic personality has made him arguably the face of baseball at 22. He is the cover athlete for MLB The Show and the No. 1 card in Topps' deck. He features in commercials and dominates highlight reels.

Tatis plays the game differently. When some around the sport admonished him for bat-flipping on a 3-0 count with a seven-run lead last August, he brushed it off and bat-flipped again. Tatis has fun playing baseball, and he does so unapologetically.

And he plans to have an awful lot of fun in San Diego for an awful long time. Fourteen years, to be exact.

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14-yr. deal! Tatis in SD for long haul (sources) - MLB.com
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