Fernando Tatis Jr. injures wrist, to be out significant time

Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres superstar fractured his wrist during the offseason

Fernando Tatis Jr.'s injury comes as a blow to a Padres team that lost the shortstop to a shoulder injury last year, prompting his move to the outfield. Per Dennis Lin of The Athletic, Fernando Tatis Jr. is unsure if he'll need surgery at this point.

"Tatis clarified that a decision on surgery hasn't been made yet. Regardless, he'll be out a while." - @ Dennis Lin

Tatis, who signed a market-setting contract in 2020 for a 14-year, $340 million extension, is the nucleus of the Padres roster. This puts San Diego in a tough position, fielding a top 5 payroll without its star player for possibly the first half of the season.

The Padres have two options:

Trevor Story rejected a Qualifying Offer from the Colorado Rockies this off-season

Option A:

Luckily for San Diego, two premier shortstops are available on the free agent market. To this point, the prospects for Astros shortstops Carlos Correa and Trevor Story have not been what the players expected. Correa has reportedly struggled to find a team willing to meet his asking price of $300 million, while Story's age and potentially inflated numbers from playing at Coors Field are making it difficult to secure a long-term contract. It's a great opportunity for one of these players to take a one-year contract and try their luck next year. Both bring a presence to the position that would allow the roster to stay competitive with the Dodgers and Giants. Bringing Tatis back would make the lineup lethal. The Padres, who already have their payroll at $191 million, would have to forfeit a draft pick for either of these two players.

"Hear me out. What if the Padres sign Trevor Story now and when Tatis gets healthy they move Story to 2B and Cronenworth to 1B?" - @ Marc Luino

Option B:

While it's tempting to sign a high-quality free agent to fill the void, the Padres may find it best to trust the roster they've built around Tatis Jr. Teammates Manny Machado, Jurikson Profar, and Wil Myers might be enough to keep the team afloat for the season. They'll need pitchers like Yu Darvish and Blake Snell to be the aces General Manager A.J. Preller traded for, or San Diego may find themselves in the same spot they did in 2021, struggling for 3rd place behind the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants.