San Diego Padres: A dinner to help Fernando Tatis Jr.
Sometimes, it helps to have friends in the right places. That was the case for Fernando Tats Jr when it came to making the San Diego Padres Opening Day roster.
Since the establishment of their franchise in 1969, the San Diego Padres have yet to win a World Series. Their last playoff appearance was 12 seasons ago, back in 2006, the third longest active postseason drought. Winning has not been a relevant component in their team’s chemistry and culture.
However, the Padres are currently attempting to transform and turn the corner. They want to play baseball in October.
Prior to the 2018 season, the Padres signed four-time Gold Glover Eric Hosmer to an eight-year, $144 million contract, cementing him as their franchise first baseman of the future. This offseason, they made another huge move by going out and signing four-time All-Star third baseman Manny Machado to a ten-year, $300 million deal, giving them a high-caliber player in their hot corner for the next decade.
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With almost half a billion dollars dedicated between these two stars, they are still not satisfied. They want to spend money like a bigger market. The two took the Padres’ executive chairman Ron Fowler to dinner as an attempt to their top prospect, shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. makes the Opening Day roster.
Only 20 years old, Tatis has been a standout prospect for the last three years. Even though he was ranked as one of the top three prospects in baseball by ESPN and Baseball America this Spring, the Padres were unsure if was going to make the Opening Day roster. His father, Fernando Tatis, played in the majors from 1997 to 2010.
As all teams do, San Diego was trying to finesse his service time by starting him in the minor leagues and ensuring one more year of team control before he would become a free agent. Hosmer and Machado fought against this possible idea, and promoted a win now philosophy, instead of waiting to have the best players on the roster.
Fowler was persuaded and Tatis made the Opening Day roster as their shortstop. This made Tatis the youngest player to start on Opening Day in more than 20 years. Recording two hits in his debut, he became the youngest players to start and record a hit on Opening Day since Adrian Beltre did for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1994.
He would have been in the minors if it was not for his teammates. It is crucial for veteran players to vouch for top prospects to make the Opening Day roster because this is good for baseball. The Padres are beginning to act like a big-market team. Transitioning San Diego into an aggressive franchise will make the game more competitor. A roster should be composed of the franchise’s best 25 players, none of which who should be kept in the minor leagues for impractical reasons, such as service time.
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All teams should be developing win now philosophies. The Padres are doing the smart thing by using their young star this early in the season. Tatis has already shown that he can produce and will be an instrumental part of the San Diego Padres in 2019.