Fernando Tatis Jr. loses arbitration, ordered to pay $3.74M to Big League Advance

San Diego Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. has been ordered by an arbitrator to pay Big League Advance (BLA) $3.74 million.

BLA recently petitioned the Superior Court of District of Columbia to confirm an arbitration award against Tatis.

The petition was filed on Sept. 24, and it included a copy of a Sept. 11 decision and award by arbitrator Anthony J. Carpinello. The decision rejects Tatis’ request for a stay of the arbitration pending the outcome of the lawsuit he filed in California.

This latest legal move was put in motion years ago.

In 2017, when he was 18 years old and in the minor leagues, Tatis signed a contract with BLA, agreeing to give BLA 10% of his future earnings for a $2 million upfront payment. Since then, both Tatis and BLA have made legal maneuvers to either void or uphold the contract.

On Sept. 11, Carpinello ordered Tatis to pay BLA $3.74 million. According to BLA, Tatis made his regular 10% payments to company until 2024, then stopped making payments, so it initiated arbitration to recover money owed. The arbitrator ruled that $3.74 million is essentially back pay to BLA and rejected Tatis’ claim that he shouldn’t have to make payments pending the outcome of his lawsuit.

This ruling is separate from the lawsuit Tatis filed against BLA in June.

In June, Robert Hertzberg, co-counsel on the Tatis lawsuit, told NBC 7 that he believes Tatis’ contract with BLA violates California Financial Law, contending BLA lacks a license to operate in California and saying it’s a predatory loan.

While that lawsuit is ongoing, the arbitrators’ recent ruling does not bode well for Tatis. In the ruling, the arbitrator did not find any violations of California law and doubted it would hold up in court.

As for the next step in the Tatis lawsuit, a case management conference is scheduled for early December.

Tatis has a 14-year, $340 million contract with the Padres, so it’s possible he could owe BLA roughly $34 million over the course of the deal.