caulfield12

https://theathletic.com/884960/2019/03/25/everybody-was-surprised-but-here-we-are-an-oral-history-of-how-the-padres-acquired-fernando-tatis-jr/ Tatis Sr.: Marco Paddy, he was one of the best in the business, I believe. And the first time that he saw my son, he said, “He’s going to be a big-leaguer, there’s no doubt. And I’m going to sign him. Let everybody see him, but I’m going to be the one to sign him.” That’s what he told me: “No matter what he does, no matter what everybody does, what kind of offer they’ve got, I’m going to be the one to sign him, because this kid is going to be something special.” I told Marco, “Right now, he doesn’t look the same height as all these kids. They get to sign for a lot of money, because they’re tall, they’re big, they’re strong.” He was one of the skinny guys, and I’m talking about 40 kids, 40 kids who were doing tryouts for the DPL in that moment. He was one of the small ones, and I told Marco Paddy, “Look, our family, we have the potential to grow a little bit late. When we start turning around 17, 18, that’s when we start growing. Watch.” And Bebo, Junior, he started to grow one inch every year. Kemp: You look at Fernando’s dad. He’s 5-10. And nobody’s going to predict this guy’s going to grow four inches. Later that year, the Padres were scouting the Arizona Instructional League. Tatis Jr., who was on the White Sox’s instructs roster, had indeed grown. Tatis Jr.: I signed at 6 feet. And then I got to, like, 6-2. Pete DeYoung, Padres pro scouting director: I definitely recall that they’d played in some instructional league games, which are generally more like simulated scrimmages, to some extent. He got into some action then, and our scout who (was covering) the White Sox — we always put in reports on what we see during instructional league, so he was part of that process then. We knew he had the bloodlines, so just kind of the way he carried himself was something that we liked. And it was a projectable body with some athleticism and playing in the middle of the diamond. Those are all things that you take note of initially, and then you see the makings of a pretty decent swing and you see some arm strength. The Padres saw more of Tatis early the next year, when he was in extended spring training...

Tatis would have gotten well over $1 million if he was already universally agreed upon by scouts. Pretty sure it was only $800k. He would later gain the 2 1/2 inches of additional height while retaining and even increasing the speed and power. The quick twitch muscles and infield arm were already obvious to anyone watching him in AZ. Law was the first national writer to jump him up all the way to overall Top 10-15 MiLB status in his first full minor league campaign with SD.

https://districtondeck.com/2020/09/08/a-look-back-at-mike-rizzos-biggest-hits-and-misses/

Look at the team fWAR in 2021 vs. 2022/23. It's crazy that largely the same group of players are responsible.

What about those five years with the Padres lol? Not sure there's exactly buzz yet though. He's definitely better than Getz for Chris' current role.

News of Hostetler remaining, big in the Dayton Moore TLR and Burger trees...will undoubtedly help. Lol. Does JR seriously think those firings but Grifol still remaining will inspire anyone?

So those waiting to hear the news of replacements won't be LESS likely to renew if it's Getz and Moore? The only name for many that could change or transform minds at this point is Theo Epstein....at the very least, a true outsider with a fresh and objective viewpoint. That would be more shocking (a warmly embraced announcement) than the two firings thenselves.

Not Rick Hahn's fault. It's the training staff, TLR and of course those individual players. Nobody could have predicted their poor health or Covid lol.

Shohei fallout We’re more than 24 hours out from Shohei Ohtani’s UCL tear and we still don’t know what to do with the news. The injury could reshape his future, as Sam Blum writes, but Ken Rosenthal argues he’s still worth a $500 million contract, even if he’s just a hitter. Keith Law went more granular, arguing he’s likely worth between $70-$100 million per year. If Ohtani opts for Tommy John surgery, two-time TJ guys told Stephen Nesbitt what the wunderkind should expect. There are even further questions: What if he skipped hitting in 2024 to recapture his pitching greatness? It’s just a lot. We also have a full explainer on what to expect from here. Whew.

At the time he was certainly the name player in the trade though...and had been a pretty highly rated Sox prospect albeit with numerous injury red flags.

How can you not mention Semien and Bassitt for Samardzija?

That was lazy reporting adding Burger's name as a "negative" with his defense improving and even playing second at least competently. He was clearly much better than 2022.

Along with Erik Johnson too.

That's an interesting thought. Jay Cuda lol.

Nobody on God's green earth would describe Aaron Bummer as a solid player this year. I don't care what statistic is cited...

Yeah, even with those MiLB Top 50-100 lists you're only looking at a 10-15% "hit rate" in terms of producing "above average or replacement-level" players...especially after you get past the Top 10-15 guys.

Hopefully that's enough to clinch the Gold Glove. Double play would have been icing on the cake/trophy.

100% YES. Everything that happens in the minor leagues...aka development.

Obviously shouldn't be an "experiment" (Kopech either) 5-6 years into their major league careers when they were both consensus top prospects with almost EVERYONE in the entire scouting industry.

Still owe him $35 million including these last two months of the 2023 season...

Has he realistically thought about the 2024 starting rotation and bullpen????? Heck, if you go back to the 2014-15 Royals, they had their most important leader at the catcher's spot in Salvador Perez. That's arguably the weakest spot on the Sox roster until Quero debuts.

Try talking to teenagers these days in a high school classroom...even in China. They only want to talk about sleeping and e-sports/social media, lol. So it's always a challenge just to find common topics when you're that 53 year old white guy who represents the patriarchy, therefore, you need to adjust/adapt, lol.

Or that Mike had a son that age already...the only good thing to come out of the 2007 "all the big arms" season...

Benintendi close to his season peak of a .712 OPS...after that homer.

Hernández: Angels failed to stop Shohei Ohtani from a disastrous injury that alters his future (yahoo.com) LA Times columnist blames the Angels for basically letting Ohtani do whatever he wants and not shutting him down longer after his last start when his velocity was quite noticeably down.