An agreement Fernando Tatis Jr signed as a teenager in 2017 has now come back to bite him after almost a decade. As the San Diego Superior Court passed a tentative ruling dismissing his lawsuit, per the New York Post, Tatis now stands to lose millions.

Tatis sued Big League Advance in 2025, alleging that BLA Funds preyed on him financially as an 18-year-old without a nuanced understanding of the agreement. The lawsuit was filed a month after retired New York State Judge Anthony J. Carpinello oversaw an arbitration between the two parties.

BLA lent Tatis $2 million upfront in exchange for 10% of his future annual earnings for 25 years if he reached the major leagues. He was a minor league prospect at the time of his agreement. However, in 2017, Tatis was already clocking 22 homers in a season, while advancing from Class A to AA. With his future already looking bright, he was easy to bet on.

Because Tatis eventually signed a 14-year, $340 million contract with the Padres, that 10% agreement means he owes BLA $34 million in total. In the arbitration, Carpinello found the agreement valid. He ruled that Tatis must pay the money he owes to BLA. The lawsuit challenged the arbitrator’s ruling.

The lawsuit revealed that former MLB pitcher Michael Swimmer, CEO of BLA, took an 18-year-old Tatis to dinner to finalize the agreement. At the time, Tatis did not discuss the legality of the contract’s nature with BLA. According to court filings, the focus of the meeting was immediate money for him and his family, not long-term consequences.

This isn’t the first time BLA has faced pushback. Cleveland Guardians catcher Francisco Mejía sued the company in 2018 under very similar circumstances, claiming their advances were actually unconscionable loans, though he eventually dropped the suit.

Years later, in 2024, Tatis stopped paying BLA. After Tatis stopped paying, the BLA fund filed an arbitration against him, which they won a year later. Carpinello ordered him to pay $3.2 million, in addition to attorney fees and other costs, which amounts to $3.74 million. Tatis filed his lawsuit to void the entire contract and avoid paying the massive $34 million total debt.

Judge Judy Bae rejected Tatis’ lawsuit, which challenged the contract’s legality. The player had appealed to the court to make the agreement void. But according to Judge Bae, Tatis should have filed the lawsuit before arbitration.

“Based on this California Supreme Court precedent, a party challenging the legality of the entire contract must raise such challenges before arbitration proceedings begin,” Judy reportedly observed.

Though the court has dismissed Tatis’ lawsuit, his legal team still plans to appeal the ruling.

Fernando Tatis Jr’s statement on the lawsuit

Fernando Tatis Jr fell prey to the Big League Advance as a teenager in the Dominican Republic, unaware of Californian laws. As a young athlete, he did not possess the sophisticated financial knowledge required to understand the agreement. The Padres’ star revealed in a statement that he wishes to protect future baseball players from such schemes.

“This case has always been about protecting the next generation of players from illegal financial schemes, and we just took a big step toward that goal. I’m looking forward to this process, finally eliminating the predatory practices of companies like BLA,” Tatis said in a statement. “Until then, my focus will remain squarely on the field with my teammates as we work to bring a World Series title to San Diego.”

The legal setback comes as Tatis navigates a shockingly difficult season at the plate. Across 50 games, Tatis is hitting .238 with only 6 extra-base hits, no homers, and 16 RBI this season. Though Tatis had a rough start to this season, the Padres are only second to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West with a 31-20 record. The Padres will aim to sweep the Athletics in the series finale on Sunday.