Who wants Fernando Tatis Jr.? Make the San Diego Padres an offer

If a team is still lacking that one big name to project it into contention, and is willing to take some measure of risk to fill that gap, here’s a suggestion: Feel out the San Diego Padres about the availability of Fernando Tatis Jr.

Granted, the Padres may politely decline to listen. Granted, too, there are at least a couple of reasons to view Tatis as tarnished goods.

But the opportunity to acquire a player of his talent — probably at a discount — comes around so rarely that it’s worth the effort to at least try.

If you think Tatis’ value in San Diego hasn’t shrunk, check out the team’s winter depth chart. It lists him as the No. 4 shortstop — behind Xander Bogaerts, Ha-Seong Kim and Jake Cronenworth. He’s also slotted as the third stringer in center and right fields.

Part of that is attributable to the fact that Tatis remains under suspension for PED use for the first month of the 2023 season. But the Padres not very subtlely expressed their true feelings regarding Tatis when they signed Bogaerts to that 11-year, $280 million deal in early December.

Since Tatis is already under contract to San Diego for 12 more years at about $330 million, that means the Padres have more than $600 million tied up through 2033 in two young talents — Bogaerts is 29, Tatis 24 — who earned that $600 million playing the same position.

The assumption in San Diego is that when Tatis comes back it will be as an outfielder, and that’s one reason why rumors are flying right now that Grisham is on the open market.

Grisham’s a nice player. But why settle for him when you could get Tatis, especially if the Padres are willing to chip on his future earnings … to which they’re already committed?

Don’t forget the kind of talent Tatis represents, talent that prompted San Diego to give him that long-term deal in the first place.

As a 22-year-old in 2021, he hit 42 home runs with a .364 on base average, a .611 slugging average, and a 166 OPS+. That’s not a fluke; since coming to the majors in 2019, his career OPS+ is 160 on a scale where 100 equals the major league average.

The knock on Tatis has been his defense. In three seasons at shortstop he’s averaged nearly -15 defensive runs saved. Even so, his 2021 WAR (Tatis missed all of 2022 with a fracture and the PED suspension) still hit 6.6, the sixth-highest total among all position players.

What would it take to pry Fernando Tatis Jr. away from the San Diego Padres?

Only Padres execs can answer that one. But there are several reasons to believe he might be more available than a 24-year-old phenom with what amounts to a lifetime deal might ordinarily be.

First and foremost, Tatis’ handling of his 2022 absence — particularly the PED suspension — obviously did not go over well either in the front office or the locker room. He seemed indifferent and not especially apologetic.

Players put under contract for more than a decade are by default team leaders. Given what transpired last year, and in the context of the arrival of Bogaerts, it’s hard to imagine Tatis gaining or keeping that status in San Diego, either in 2023 or the foreseeable future.

If I were a team in need of a mid-lineup star, I’d be calling the Padres. I’d be offering one or two of my top 10 prospects and seeing how much of that long-term contract A.J. Preller is willing to eat.