San Diego Padres All-Star Fernando Tatis Jr. has filed a major lawsuit in California against Big League Advance, LLC (BLA), a company offering baseball players upfront payments in exchange for a percentage of future MLB earnings, as reported by The Athletic's Brittany Ghiroli and Dennis Lin.
Tatis engaged in a deal with BLA in 2017, when he still lived in the Dominican Republic, but he is suing in California, alleging the company's violation of several state laws. Former MLB star Francisco Mejía filed a similar lawsuit back in 2018, but he eventually dropped his case. Mejía owed 10 percent of his MLB earnings to BLA after receiving $360,000 across three separate payments.
This feels like a landmark case, not just due to Tatis' star power and the amount of money involved — he signed a 14-year, $340 million contract in 2021, of which he could owe up to $34 million to BLA, depending on the amount of money he received as a teenager living in D.R — but also because Tatis is not the only victim of what he calls "predatory lenders and illegal financial schemes."
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Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. sues company for alleged illegal financial scheme
These "schemes" disproportionately impact young players in Latin America, who are attempting to claw their way to the big leagues and financially support their families. This is at the heart of the issue for Tatis, who claims he is hoping to "help protect those young players who don’t yet know how to protect themselves."
"California lawmakers have put in place serious, straightforward protections against predatory financial activity, but BLA has still disregarded our laws to pursue a business model built on prohibited, deceptive and abusive practices," Robert Hertzberg, a member of Tatis' legal team, told The Athletic.
This case has a chance to seriously impact MLB. Not only is it an effort to recoup potential lost value on MLB contracts, but it could limit BLA's ability to operate in the state of California and elsewhere, changing the financial dynamics for amateur players both domestic and abroad. It feels especially applicable to players like Tatis, coming from another country and with limited financial recourse.
Generally, the league has done very little to regulate or even participate in the marketplace for young prospects coming up in Latin America and elsewhere. Players can sign MLB contracts as teenagers, before achieving legal adult status, but the league has very few guardrails in place to protect that money.
This is a signal for Rob Manfred and the MLB bigwigs to take these issues more seriously and create a safer financial environment around prospective pros. We do not know the resolution of this case just yet, but Tatis feels strongly about this fight — and hopefully the league office is paying attention and offering support to its talent.