![[Acee] A report early in the week became a talking point as the possibility mushroomed as it wound through the vast expanse of the World Wide Web and made its way to the General Manager Meetings at The Cosmopolitan hotel. “We’re not trading Tatis,” one Padres source said emphatically on Wednesday.](https://www.rawchili.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/rxqp4un81y0g1-1569x1024.jpeg)
A report early in the week became a talking point as the possibility mushroomed as it wound through the vast expanse of the World Wide Web and made its way to the General Manager Meetings at The Cosmopolitan hotel.
“We’re not trading Tatis,” one Padres source said emphatically on Wednesday.
Multiple team sources said over the past two days that the idea of moving their All-Star right fielder and one of the most popular players in the major leagues has not been discussed internally or with other teams this offseason.
The rationale for trading Tatis, who won his second Platinum Glove award and ranked 15th in the National League with an .814 OPS this past season, is based largely on his contractual situation and that of other Padres stars.
Tatis, who turns 27 in January, is due slightly more than $290 million over the nine years remaining on a contract he signed in 2021.
He is one of three players the Padres owe at least $200 million over the next several years. The others, Manny Machado ($299 million over eight years) and Xander Bogaerts ($203.6 million over eight years), are both 33 years old and would likely be impossible to trade without eating a large chunk of salary.
Had Tatis not been locked up by the Padres, he would have been a free agent this offseason.
The average annual value of $32.4 million over the remainder of Tatis’ deal likely does not represent much of a savings, but that a player in his prime would be under control through his age-35 season is somewhat extraordinary.
“He isn’t getting a nine-year deal now,” one National League executive said on Tuesday. “He is probably getting about that on the AAV.”
Two American League general managers opined Tatis would likely be in line for a short option-laden contract if he were a free agent now.
Tatis was one of 10 players in the major leagues to hit at least 25 home runs and steal at least 30 bases in 2025. (He had 25 and 32.)
The threat of Tatis being traded might surface for real in the future if the Padres need to cut costs in order to round out their roster. Bogaerts, Machado and Tatis will cost a combined $90.25 million a year in 2027 and ‘28, and they will make a combined $101.25 million every season from 2029 through ‘33.
But Padres officials have essentially vowed to maintain payroll at a level that keeps the Padres among the top third of spenders among the league’s 30 teams for 2026.
“We think we can be at a similar level to where we’ve been in the top 10,” CEO Erik Greupner said this week. “And that allows us to be competitive and ultimately win a championship.”
The Padres believe they can add a pair of starting pitchers within their budgetary parameters.
Supplementing the rotation is the clear priority. The Padres are as set in the field as they have been in several years, as they bring back eight of the nine players who started their final postseason game.
“We feel good about the core position players that we have,” Padres President of Baseball Operarions A.J. Preller said. “We picked up Ramon Laureano’s option. We’ve got (Jackson) Merrill coming back. We’ve got Tatis. We’ve got Bogaerts, (Jake) Cronenworth, Machado and (Gavin) Sheets. We can round out a roster and a lineup right now. I think it’s about finding pieces that go with the current group that we have. … We probably need a corner bat. We’ll have more conversation (about) left(-handed), right-(handed), power versus hitter, platoon versus everyday guy.”
In the course of their dealing this winter, the Padres may well trade one of those core players. Jake Cronenworth and Gavin Sheets are intriguing options for clubs based on club control and affordability.
But they do not plan to have discussions about finding a new right fielder.
30 comments
The dumbasses who suggest we should be trading Tatis are out of their god damn minds. He’s at minimum at platinum glover with good offense, and at max potential at top 3 player in the league. Those don’t grow on trees. Also he has a steal of a contract
Does everybody know he has no trade clause in his contract
Acee being Acee…this is a total nothing burger.
I was seeing weird stuff about this on insta and kept checking mlbtraderumors but saw nothing. Thus, a nothingberder for now
Bob Nightengale started this.
This is the kind of stuff students write when they’re trying to hit a word count in an essay.
Tatis is the player I used to get my family back into baseball. He’s the type of player that can bring in fans that weren’t already baseball fans, no one is giving that up and if they do may god have mercy on us all.
fuck you bob
water found in a pool 😱
Even with the AAV this deal is $425M less than what the Mets are paying Soto who is a great offensive threat (still not worth 765M) and who is a Teoscar level outfielder and not a good base runner.
Boob and Ken always stirring it up .
The AL Executive opining that Tatis would be in line for a “short option laden contract” if he were a free agent right now is absolutely wanting to trade for Tatis lol
Every year reporters come out with some BS about the padres. It’s just an easy headline for them since Preller has been the most active GM in the league.
Offseason bullshit rumors covered as news. They could talk about sports gambling, but MLB doesn’t want that.
I saw we burn at the stake whoever made up this BS rumor. I’m kidding but he should get his ass handed to him!
Well that’s a long fucking sentence.
This shit happens every fucking offseason, dudes like Bob and Kevin Acee be posting headlines like
“IS TATIS JR FINALLY ON THE MARKET ?! WHY IT MAKES SENSE”
Like sir… stop
Wtf is the title of this post tho 😂
Brevity, Acee. Brevity.
Lmao I know who started this rumor. I worked for the Padres and heard that rumor from a coworker. Not a player. Not a management. That rumor started bcuz this person felt tatis sat for the playoffs and didn’t put enough effort. But if those that do know. It wasn’t that he sat on his own. There’s something called the Manfred memo that went around a few years already. Telling teams to ease up or else. Remember when Dave Roberts blamed Manny for throwing a ball at him and then later admitted he lied? The memo came out the week of that happening. Phillies Astros etc. All got it. I wrote a post earlier when I was let go of things that were going to happen. Darvish was true as well. Happy hunting 🙂
Bob Nightengale is on the Epstein list
This is legit one of the funniest headlines I’ve ever read.
The funniest part of all this was AL East fans drawing up prospect offers for Tatis, not knowing that our GM will regularly blow up our farm with 500 tons of dynamite.
When I saw it was Bob, I knew it was bullshit and didn’t think about it. Journalism for so many “journalist” now is just make shit up, find a tweet from somewhere and there you go, jobs a goodin.
If there’s one player the Padres are going to fit into their salary someway, somehow, it’s Tatis. We’ve been looking for the next great Padre since Tony retired. Now that we have him we’re trading him away in his prime? 😂 😂 😂
Despite not winning a championship he’s probably the most marketable superstar in MLB behind Ohtani and maybe Harper.
Sorry to be that guy again (former high level mgr for Padres and chargers) that gets down voted into oblivion but …
Everyone forgots that players are assets. Tatis is an amazing baseball player with a great personality THAT SELLS SEASON TICKETS. The padres were the only team in baseball (again) to exceed 100% and lead the league in ticket sales / available seats due to park in the park. While the padres may not total the number of fans as the Dodger, their percentage of tickets sold to available seats leads the league which is HUGE for a small market team.
We ARE a small market team that is surrounded by ocean, Mexico, desert and the LA market that eats up half of the SD market and everything north of Orange County. In an industry that is driven by Luxury Suites (Petco tends to be a leader in Delaware Norths portfolio which is insane compared to thier other venues of Celtics, lightening, Bills, etc).
This also started with the season leading up to the all star games. ALL shitty teams that get to host an all star game (because they have a new stadium) is pre-negotiated trade off to build a fan base and better team for the all star season then bail (see 2014-15 trade before and after all star game … Kimbrel, Shields, Cashner, Upton, Kemp, etc).
Spoiler: it happened to the Cincinnati Reds when hosting the 2016 all star season with the same formula. (I mean this humbly but I would know, I trained them to do it).
Sorry, long story short is revenue streams and marketability. Whomever puts butts in seats is worth far more than thier contract and avv. Look at Yao Ming and Ohtani … they sell out stadiums along with creating a legit BILLION+ international fans that will only be Dodger fans the rest of their lives and will buy Dodger swag at full retail + tariffs.
$$$$$$ > ownership > luxury suites sales > players > stats > optics/media > partnerships (Pepsi) > ROI >>>>> Fans
EDIT: Go Padres! Go Superchargers! Fuck the Raiders! Fuck the Dodgers … stupid sexy Ohtani.
… why did Aaron get the largest contract in baseball history when going to Texas? Why did Adrian Gonzolaz print money for the Padres and Dodgers?
They brought in an untapped underrepresented Hispanic and Latino market with lots of pride in their countrymen (and money) to MLB in key markets to lead to the acceptance of Dominican, Mexican, Etc market to not only be accepted but also exploited for the owners financial gain.
Every god damn year this stupid shit comes up.
Source: Tatis on the block!!!! Please comment and subscribe for more Padres uninformed sound bites
Reality: Team fails to trade player with no trade clause
Someone had hit a character quota for that title
Tatis is and will be actually only one franchise guy in our roster who will be worth or even more than his contract. But trade him? What a trash idea!