Fernando Tatis Jr.'s $340M Padres Contract, Biggest MLB Deals Ever

The San Diego Padres have reportedly signed Fernando Tatis Jr. to the third-richest contract in MLB history, coming to terms with the 22-year-old shortstop on a 14-year, $340 million deal, per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

The deal is the longest in MLB history, per Acee.  

Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout and Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts are the only two players with more lucrative deals. Tatis surpassed Philadelphia Phillies right fielder Bryce Harper and New York Yankees outfielder/designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton, who each have contracts north of $320 million, with his signing.

Here's a look at where Tatis' deal falls within the five richest contracts in baseball history, per Cot's Contracts.

The best player in baseball has dominated during his 10-year career with the Angels, winning three American League MVP awards, the AL Rookie of the Year award in 2012 and eight Silver Sluggers. He has hit 302 home runs and .304 overall to go along with a 1.000 OPS.

Trout hasn't finished lower than fifth in the AL MVP voting once since the 2012 campaign. He's led the league in on-base percentage, OPS and runs four times apiece. He has also surpassed 100 RBI three times and posted 30 or more homers in six of his seasons.

Team success has evaded Trout and the Angels, although that's no fault of the star center fielder. The Angels have had winning records four times but made the playoffs only once, losing to the Kansas City Royals 3-0 in the 2014 AL Division Series.

The Boston Red Sox traded Betts and left-handed pitcher David Price to the Los Angeles Dodgers between the 2019 and 2020 campaigns in what amounted to a cost-cutting move. The Dodgers spared no expense retaining Betts long-term, inking the 2018 American League MVP and World Series winner to his extension before the 2020 season began.

All Betts did was help lead L.A. to its first World Series victory since the 1988 season, smacking a team-high 16 home runs in addition to two more in the World Series against the Tampa Bay Rays.

He flashed the leather along the way with a dazzling playoff fielding highlight reel to give the Dodgers their sixth World Series in L.A.

The Padres are making a big bet that Tatis is the real deal despite just 629 MLB plate appearances, but there's nothing to suggest the 22-year-old will be anything but a megastar for years to come.

The game's most entertaining and exciting player not only led San Diego to its first playoff appearance since 2006 last year, but the Padres also won their first playoff series since the 1998 campaign, when they won the National League pennant.

Tatis finished fourth in the NL MVP voting with 17 home runs, 45 RBI and a .937 OPS. In 2019, he hit 22 home runs in 84 games.

He's also been excellent in the field, finishing with the NL's second-best fielding percentage among shortstops at .984.

Harper signed the game's most lucrative contract when he inked a $330 million extension in Feb. 2019 with the Philadelphia Phillies. That record didn't even last a month before Trout signed his monster contract, but Harper still enjoyed a solid 2019 season with 35 home runs and a career-high 114 RBI. He followed that up with 13 homers, 33 RBI, a league-high 49 walks and a .962 OPS in 2020.

Although Harper hasn't been one of the game's absolute best players since joining Philadelphia following a seven-year stint with the Washington Nationals, he's still showcased his booming power to help the Phillies stay competitive.

Getting to the playoffs is another story as the team hasn't made it since 2011. Perhaps 2021 will break the decade-long slump.

Harper's Nats tenure resulted in six All-Star Games and the 2015 National League MVP award after he hit 42 home runs with a 1.109 OPS.

The Miami Marlins went all-in on Giancarlo Stanton following the 2014 season, signing the slugger to a mammoth deal in Nov. 2014 that was once the longest and richest in MLB history. The then-25-year-old had just hit 37 home runs and finished second in the NL MVP race.

Injuries limited him to 74 games in 2015, and he missed an additional 43 contests in 2016, but Stanton dominated baseball in 2017 with 59 home runs, 132 RBI and a 1.007 OPS despite playing in the cavernous, pitcher-friendly confines of Marlins Park for half the year.

However, the Marlins decided to tear the team down following the season and traded Stanton to the New York Yankees.

He had a good-not-great 2018 season with 38 home runs and 100 RBI, but injuries have forced him to miss 181 games out of a possible 222 in 2019 and 2020. He's hit just seven home runs in 41 regular-season games over the past two years.

Stanton's majestic power is still evident, though, as he smacked six home runs in seven total playoff games last year, knocking in 13 runners along the way.