Padres GM: Tatis extension is a 'priority'

The San Diego Padres are interested in keeping Fernando Tatis Jr. for a long time and are prioritizing an extension with their young star.

On Monday, Padres general manager A.J. Preller said the economic fallout of playing a 2020 campaign without fans wouldn't affect conversations about a long-term deal with the shortstop.

"I think it's more going to be a conversation about what we see his value is contract-wise and what he wants to do directionally and seeing if we can line up on a dollar amount," Preller explained, according to MLB.com's Maria Guardado and AJ Cassavell.

"But he's a priority. I think his situation is a priority. I think we're in a position to try to line up on a deal. We'll see what happens here over the course of the rest of the offseason. We'll see if we can do that."

Tatis finished third in National League Rookie of the Year voting in 2019 after establishing himself as one of the league's most electric players. In 84 games, he hit .317/.379/.590 with 22 home runs, six triples, and 53 RBIs.

The 21-year-old would follow his impressive first season with a sophomore campaign that included a fourth-place finish in NL MVP voting and his first Silver Slugger award.

The Padres don't necessarily need to rush an extension for Tatis. The Dominican superstar won't become a free agent until 2025 and isn't set to hit arbitration until 2022. But that isn't changing Preller's mindset about getting a deal done sooner rather than later.

"With Tatis, everybody has been up front, the job is go get talented players and individuals that fans love to see play and lead to a winning situation. You want to keep those guys. He’s expressed interest. We’ll go down that path," Preller said of a potential extension in October.

"There sounds like there is interest on both sides, so we'll see where it goes."