The San Diego Padres reached the playoffs this last season but experienced an early exit. With the team aiming to make some changes to the roster, president of baseball operations and general manager, AJ Preller, was asked about Fernando Tatis Jr.'s potential availability in the trade market.
Preller shut down any notions of the Padres possibly trading Tatis, according to Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune. Preller very clearly has no intentions of dealing the 26-year-old outfielder away.
“He's somebody that we're not talking about,” Preller said. “However, you want to say that; if you want to say that's ‘untouchable,' you can say that.”
Fernando Tatis Jr. has arguably the best season of his career in 2025. Although he has yet to reach the 42 home run mark he hit in 2021, the three-time All-Star still played incredibly well. Tatis finished the campaign with a .268 batting average and .368 OBP while recording 159 hits, 25 home runs, and 71 RBIs. He also stole 32 bases and played in 155 games, which are both career-highs.
With production like that, it would be a bit shocking if San Diego were to trade Fernando Tatis Jr. The Padres seemingly want to build around Tatis in the hopes of making a deeper run in the playoffs in 2026.
The 14-year, $340 million contract he signed in 2021 indicates the Padres plan to keep him for the long haul. The 2026 campaign will only be the sixth year of the deal. So, based on the contract and AJ Preller's recent comments, we should expect to see Fernando Tatis Jr. playing for this for quite some time.
