A judge in San Diego is the latest presiding officer to side against San Diego Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. in his quest not to pay Big League Advance Fund (BLA)—with which he signed an investment contract in 2017—approximately $3.74 million reflecting a share of his professional baseball earnings, as well as interest, attorneys’ fees and costs.
The ruling underscores the risks a party in arbitration takes when they file a lawsuit. To that point, it appears Tatis had an abrupt shift in legal strategy last June, which may have impacted the ultimate outcome.
In a tentative order last Friday, San Diego Superior Court Judge Judy S. Bae declined to vacate an arbitration award issued last year in BLA’s favor. The judge stressed the narrow grounds on which an arbitration award can be vacated and concluded Tatis failed to offer a valid reason to overcome that standard of review.
As Sportico detailed, arbitrator and retired New York judge Anthony J. Carpinello last September issued a final ruling for BLA. The September order followed an interim one by Carpinello in May 2025, important in terms of timing, as explained below.
Carpinello sided against Tatis partly because, in his view, BLA “has ‘loaned’ nothing” to Tatis.
