Fernando Tatís Jr. Ordered to Pay $3.2 Million After Court Ruling
Fernando Tatís Jr. lost his bid to unwind a 2017 contract advance deal, and a San Diego Superior Court ordered him to pay Big League Advance Fund $3.2 million plus $240,515 in attorney’s fees. The ruling leaves intact a deal he signed as an 18-year-old and closes his petition to escape the financial terms tied to his future earnings.
San Diego Superior Court Ruling
The court ruled on May 21 that the contract Tatís signed in 2017 stands, and it also upheld a May 2025 arbitrator’s decision. The ruling was made final at a Friday, May 22 hearing, ending his attempt to undo the agreement through the court system.
That means the Padres star must pay the amount he owed at the time of the lawsuit, plus the attorney’s fees the court added on top. The financial hit is tied directly to the deal’s original structure: an upfront $2 million payment in exchange for 10 percent of his future earnings.
Fernando Tatís Jr. Deal Terms
Tatís said he signed the agreement in 2017 when he was 18 and playing in the minor leagues. He later signed a 14-year, $340 million contract with the Padres in 2021, which is the earnings stream the advance agreement reaches into.
In his June 2025 lawsuit, he alleged that the firm’s CEO preyed on him when he was a teenager in the Dominican Republic. He said, “I’m fighting this battle not just for myself but for everyone still chasing their dream and hoping to provide a better life for their family” and also said, “I want to help protect those young players who don’t yet know how to protect themselves from these predatory lenders and illegal financial schemes — baseball should be about our passion for the game, not dodging shady businesses driven only by profit and greed.”
Big League Advance Fund
The dispute centered on a contract advance agreement that fronted Tatís $2 million and gave Big League Advance Fund 10 percent of his future earnings. His June 2025 filing described the business model in blunt terms, saying, “Defendants have built a business model that preys on young, financially unsophisticated athletes, offering lump-sum advances in exchange for significant portions of their future earnings.”
He also wrote that “[Tatis Jr.], an 18-year-old minor league baseball player in 2017, was targeted by Defendants and ensnared by their predatory tactics. Lured by promises of immediate payment, [Tatis Jr.] was fraudulently induced to sign an income share agreement through material misrepresentations and omissions.” The court did not accept that challenge, and the contract remains in place.
For Tatís, the practical result is immediate: the lawsuit is gone, the debt is larger, and the agreement he signed as a teenager still governs the money tied to his career. For other young players weighing similar deals, his case shows how hard it can be to unwind one after the earnings have already grown far beyond the original advance.
