Orlando Ramirez / USA TODAY Sport
The Padres were a whale at the poker table. They kept stuffing the chips in. For the second year in a row, we are exaggerating with the luxury tax. They trade their best young players for Juan Soto and Josh Bell. Swap to Josh Hader with around $ 15 million owed next year for a closer one-spinning. Listing eight of the 10 picks in the first round under the A.J. Speaker. Raising the payroll to a record high of $ 230 million, more than double the amount five years ago.
Padres now saw an open window to win the first world championship in the series. This vision was largely based on the fact that Fernando Tatis Jr. returned to the squad this season for running and out of season. Padres lined up all the stars – until little Clostebol destroyed their plans.
In one of the most stunning, widespread drug cases in baseball since the suspension sentences began in 2005, Tatis tested positive for the banned substance, Clostebol, a synthetic anabolic androgenic steroid – being on the injured list and playing under $ 340. million, 14-year contract. He was in a minor league drug addiction assignment, recovering from a broken wrist he suffered in an off-season motorcycle accident. He claimed that the Clostebol in his body came from the drugs he was taking to treat ringworm. Clostebol is favored by some drug codes because it provides the benefits of increased testosterone (muscle growth) with less elevated levels of estrogen as a by-product. On Friday, he accepted a suspension from 80 games without appeal – 48 games left this year and the first 32 next season. He does not qualify for the off season this year.
Silver Sluggers’ dream peak of Tatis, Soto and Manny Machado – worth $ 56.8 million this year alone – will not be realized this season. And now even a playoff game for San Diego has become less likely.
At the time of suspension, the Padres were holding onto the last playoff spot, the third wildcard spot in the Netherlands. They looked at playing cardinals in the series to three wins at St. Louis.
San Diego collapsed at the end of last season when Tatis, playing with a shoulder injury not fully healed, hit 0.245 in his last 41 games. This year, the Padres have added Soto, Bell and Brandon Drury bats, another takeover of the trading term to insure against another collapse. They entered this weekend with the fewest home runs and the worst hit percentage of any National League player.
Tatis was another important element towards adding the punch that San Diego would have to face the Dodgers or the Mets if he could get through the series in the first round. He would probably be a better fit for the squad on the pitch – the Padres outfits hit 0.227 with just 29 home players – than replacing defensive specialist Ha-Seong Kim on the shortstop. Either way, they would add an NL champion in 2021 and one of the most exciting baseball players.
Padres still hold dynamite with swing and miss rotation. Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, Sean Manaea, Joe Musgrove and Mike Clevinger all hit a minimum of 8.6 beaters out of nine rounds. And they reached the playoff position with 48 games to go, and Tatis didn’t play a single game. But make no mistake: Tatis is one of the top five players in the game who could have been the creator of the difference.
San Diego has found out that the guy he has identified as his franchise player is not trustworthy. Due to injuries, motorbike accidents, a PED defeat and a shortened COVID season, Tatis has not played more than 130 games in any of his first five years in the big leagues, losing at least 43% of his team’s games.
Padres has spent $ 1.046 billion in recent years signing or acquiring Wil Myers, Eric Hosmer, Tatis, Machado, Soto, Hadera and Musgrove. This is a spending spasm unlike anything since the Diamondbacks tripled their wages between 1998 and 2002. The Padres have moved their salaries from consistently 20% below the MLB average to 50% above it, which is generally considered unsustainable in their market without huge gains in income.
“Franchises almost never change as much as Padres,” said one senior baseball source. “Spending before revenues and team success to that extent.”
Soto has a contract until 2024 which means San Diego could continue to develop the Tatis-Soto-Machado trio for two seasons (though not until May next season), but Bell is a free agent after that season. In the meantime, the Padres will only have to score a play-off seat this year, without Tatis giving them the boost they’ve been hoping for throughout the year.
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