MLB insider Bob Nightengale didn’t say the Padres are trading Fernando Tatis Jr. tomorrow. But the second you frame him as San Diego’s “most movable” star in the middle of a tightening payroll crunch, you’re not just tossing a name into the rumor mill — you’re admitting something bigger about how this front office backed itself into a corner.
Tatis isn’t Juan Soto on an expiring deal or a reliever on a one-year flier; he’s the marketing engine, the Platinum Glove winning superstar in right field, the player the franchise has wrapped itself around. If his name is even adjacent to “moveable,” it’s a flashing neon sign about how heavy these long-term commitments have become.