The Padres’ payroll reduction (relative to its 2023 peak) and limited of financial flexibility this offseason has led to plenty of hope from other clubs about the possibility of prying star right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. away from San Diego. However, president of baseball operations A.J. Preller decisively stated at the end of this week’s Winter Meetings that the three-time All-Star won’t be changing hands.
“He’s one of the best players in baseball, is a two-time Platinum (Glove) winner,” Preller told Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune in response to Tatis speculation. “The guy has taken over portions of seasons and games and playoff series and everything like that. … Every one of the different versions and iterations of the team and roster we put up there, it’s ’Tati’ right in the middle. Hopefully, he is one of the top players on our team this year. He’s somebody that we’re not talking about, however you want to say that. If you want to say that’s ’untouchable,’ you can say that.”
A trade of Tatis has never seemed particularly likely, though some around the industry have wondered whether it’ll eventually be necessary, given the uncertainty surrounding Padres ownership and the ongoing efforts to scale back payroll. San Diego has reduced its spending considerably since the passing of late owner Peter Seidler. Earlier this offseason, Seidler’s brother, John, who has since been named the team’s control person, announced that his family will explore a sale of the franchise.
That announcement came less than one year after a tumultuous and very public-facing quarrel between Sheel Seidler — Peter’s widow — and the other two Seidler brothers, Bob and Matt. Back in February, Sheel filed suit against Bob and Matt Seidler, alleging that they’ve breached fiduciary duty and committed fraud as successors of Peter’s trust. She accused her brothers-in-law of selling assets to themselves “far” below market prices in an effort to consolidate control of the franchise and of violating Peter’s wishes that she serve as interim control person before passing ownership onto the couple’s children at a later date. Matt Seidler contested the suit in a formal response wherein he accused his sister-in-law of attempting to “manufacture claims against the Trustees in pursuit of the control that Peter intentionally chose not to give her.” To date, the suits have not been litigated, nor is there any indication that a settlement has been reached.
For the time being, none of that off-field tension seems to have an impact on Tatis’ status with the club. Certainly, an eventual ownership change could create a different financial outlook in San Diego one way or another, particularly considering the remaining nine years and $286MM on Tatis’ contract.
Hefty as that sum may be, it bears emphasizing that it’s still a “bargain” relative to what Tatis would command on the open market. Had Tatis never penned that extension, he’d be a first-time free agent right now, having accumulated his sixth year of MLB service in 2025.
Tatis would be a 26-year-old (27 in January) coming off a .268/.368/.446 showing (131 wRC+) with 25 home runs, 27 doubles two triples, 32 steals (in 39 tries) and career-best walk and strikeout rates (12.9% and 18.7%, respectively). As Preller referenced, he’s a two-time Platinum Glove winner (and three-time Gold Glove winner). Tatis has hit at least 21 home runs in every 162-game season he’s played (plus 17 in the shortened 60-game season back in 2020).
Given his youth, borderline elite production at the plate and superlative defense, Tatis would have been the clear top free agent in this offseason’s class, likely in line for a contract running into his late 30s or even age-40 season. He may not have matched Juan Soto’s jaw-dropping $765MM guarantee, but Tatis would very likely have been in line for a contract even larger than the 14-year, $500MM extension signed by fellow second-generation star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. last spring. He’s been worth an average of about 6.5 wins above replacement (6.4 fWAR, 6.6 bWAR) per 162 games played in his career to this point.
Though the Padres won’t be moving Tatis anytime soon, San Diego is exploring other ways to create more financial flexibility. As was reported earlier in the month, the Friars are at least listening on Jake Cronenworth, if not shopping him, and have been willing to hear out clubs who’ve expressed interest in right-hander Nick Pivetta. RosterResource projects the Padres for a payroll of about $201MM right now. Ownership wants to keep the 2026 payroll roughly in line with last year’s mark, around $224MM, which is down from the team’s rough $255MM peak in 2023 but considerably higher than spending levels under prior ownership groups.
