Scouts in unexpected places led to Tatis trade
The interview for this story and podcast took place during Spring Training, before camps were closed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. is one of the most electric young players in the Majors, having put on an impressive display of power and athleticism during his rookie season in 2019.
Tatis was ranked by MLB Pipeline as the game’s No. 2 overall prospect before the 2019 season, but when the Padres acquired the shortstop from the White Sox in a ’16 trade that sent James Shields to Chicago, it went largely unnoticed.
In fact, the lead paragraph of MLB.com’s story about the trade said Shields had been dealt for “a pair of Minor Leaguers.”
Padres fans might not have realized just how impactful the trade would be for the franchise, but they wouldn’t have been alone. As much as San Diego’s front office liked the 17-year-old Tatis, there was no way for club executives to know that they had acquired a potential franchise-changing player.
“If you’re trading for a player at that age, I don’t think you’re necessarily thinking ‘franchise player,’” Padres assistant general manager Josh Stein said on the latest episode of the Executive Access podcast. “We did think very highly of Fernando Tatis at the time, and that was based on some scouting looks that we got.”
This browser does not support the video element.
Those looks came mostly in fall instructional league and extended spring games, thanks to general manager A.J. Preller, who assigned Padres scouts to attend both events around the league. Most teams -- including the Padres -- hadn’t previously scouted instructional league or extended spring games, but Preller’s move helped San Diego put eyes on a number of unheralded youngsters, including Tatis.
“We had some looks at Fernando Tatis the fall before that trade. Then we had multiple looks in extended Spring Training,” Stein said. “So even though he had not played a game at that point, he was our focus in that trade, even though there were other players involved.
“The tools were there. We could see certain skills developing back in these chain-link games. We were very excited to acquire him at that point.”
The White Sox, who signed Tatis for $825,000 only 11 months before the trade, believed they needed a rotation arm to remain in contention, prompting them to put Tatis into a deal for Shields. San Diego also acquired 26-year-old right-hander Erik Johnson in the deal.
Tatis made his Minor League debut after joining the Padres organization, moving up to Double-A by 2017. He played in Double-A again in 2018 and then broke camp last season as the Padres’ starting shortstop.
Stein, a San Diego native who has been with the Padres since 2003, believes Tatis might be the best young player the club has had during his tenure.
“He’s a caliber of player that I don’t think we’ve had here in San Diego in my time,” Stein said. “Definitely the physicality, that jumps out -- and that’s really come on in the last couple years. I don’t think when we acquired him that we necessarily thought we were getting a 6-[foot]-4 beast of a human being, in terms of just his physical ability and things of that nature.
“We knew we were getting a talented athlete, but he’s really -- through hard work, training and certain genetic gifts -- become a very impressive physical player.”
Listen to the entire interview on Executive Access, available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, Art 19 or wherever you get your podcasts.