“He’s only 25 years old” - Former MLB manager asserts 7 to 8 teams would take on Fernando Tatis’ contract right now

This 2024 season has been a tough ride for the San Diego Padres so far. The franchise is sitting on more losses than wins and the players' performance has been inconsistent.

The Padres have the option to trade, but their high salary and long-term deals with no trade clauses make it difficult to find interest from other teams. Many players, such as Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts and even Fernando Tatis Jr. are considered untradeable.

In a recent interview with Brian Kenny on MLB Now, former Colorado Rockies GM Dan O’Dowd agreed that Machado and Bogaerts are untradeable but he wasn’t convinced that Tatis was in the same boat.

“I do think he’s moveable BK for a couple different reasons. Number one he is 25 years old, you could look at four contracts in the game that were moved. Stanton, Cano, Arenado, and Fielder large money contracts all age 28-30 he is only 25 year old. He is a premium defender at a particular position which is right field.”

Host Brian Kenny strongly disagreed with O'Down's statements. Besides considering his salary and age, Kenny also compared Fernando Tatis Jr.'s performance before and after his suspension last season.

Before his suspension, Tatis had a slash line of .293/.369/.596 with an OPS+ of 160. After suspension, it dropped to .254/.321/.446 with an OPS+ of 112.

Tatis missed the first 20 games of the 2024 season because he was suspended for failing a drug test.

Dan O’Dowd believes Fernando Tatis Jr. would draw serious interest from teams if traded

Dan O’Dowd expressed that if Fernando Tatis Jr. were up for trade now, around seven or eight teams would want him.

“I think he brings something that’s hard to find with our game which is power,” O’Dowd said. “Right handed power, premium position which is right field of the outfield position and speed and durability. And so I do think he’s movable because I think he fills a niche.”

When Brian Kenny asked him about the number of teams interested in trading for Tatis, O’Dowd replied:

"Right now, I think there's 7 or 8 that would say yes to Tatis."

In February 2021, Fernando Tatis Jr. signed a 14-year, $340 million contract extension with the San Diego Padres. He has had a decent performance so far in the 2024 season, hitting 6 homers, 17 RBI and 4 stolen bases with a batting average of .238 and an OPS of .763.