It may be premature to call it one of the worst trades in major league history, but it was one of the worst trades in major league history.
On June 4, 2016, the Chicago White Sox were apparently so desperate to get an established starting pitcher that they traded two minor league prospects for James Shields.
In the next two and two-thirds seasons Shields started 76 games for the White Sox, emerging with a 16-35 won-lost record and a 5.31 earned run average. That performance was not what the White Sox had in mind. Nor did they expect what one of the two minor leaguers they gave up for Shields to do what he has done for the Padres.
Fernando Tatis Jr. has been a sensation as San Diego’s rookie shortstop playing next to its $300 million man, Manny Machado. A strained hamstring delayed Tatis’ major league debut until June 6, although the injury might have worked to the Padres’ advantage because it delayed the start of the rookie’s major league service time.
Entering the Padres’ Saturday game with the Dodgers, Tatis was hitting .328 with a .394 on-base percentage and .602 slugging percentage and led all rookies with 5 triples and 13 stolen bases.
I have a special interest in Tatis because of my unique connection to his father. With what might have been the most gratifying article I have ever written, and its follow-up, I found the elder Tatis’ father, also Fernando.
This unusual episode in my career occurred in August of 1997 when Tatis was playing for the Rangers and I was covering the Yankees for The New York Times. Yes, dear readers, once upon a time, the Times actually ran articles about baseball in its sports section.
Those, I guess, were the good old days. There is nothing good these days about the Times sports section, certainly not the editors and not what the editors publish under the pretense of sports. This prompts me to recall what my friend and colleague, Dave Anderson, said a few years after he retired when I asked him what he thought of the Times sports section.
“It sickens me,” he said.
But I was talking about Fernando Tatis and his search for his father.
When the Rangers were in New York for a series with the Yankees, a Texas executive, Omar Minaya, later to become the Mets’ general manager, introduced Tatis to me. Minaya knew Tatis was looking for his father and thought I might be able to help.
I was more than willing to help. What greater deed can one perform than locating someone’s “lost” parent?
After interviewing Tatis at Yankee Stadium, I wrote,“Fernando Tatis has a message for his father:
“If he sees me, don’t be afraid to come to me. I want to talk to him. I just want to see him.”
Tatis was not yet 4 years old when his father left his wife and children in the Dominican Republic.
“I just want to see him,” Tatis said. “I hope one day we can be together because I want to see him.”
Like the Rangers’ 22-year-old rookie, the missing Tatis had been a professional baseball player. He was in the Houston Astros’ organization, last playing in 1978 in the Class AA Southern League for Columbus, Ga., hitting .230 and 10 home runs. He later served as a coach in the Astros’ minor league system and as a scout in 1980 and 1981. Then he disappeared.
The location of the missing Tatis was discovered through a series of newspaper articles and telephone calls. The article I wrote for The New York Times was picked up by the Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune. The brother-in-law of Tatis’ father was in Sarasota to do construction work and called Tatis’ father. A series of telephone calls ensued, and when the Rangers were home in Texas, Minaya, who had signed Tatis five years earlier, arranged a telephone call between father and son.
Tatis initially did not believe Minaya when he told him they had found his father. “He kept saying, ‘You’re lying,’” Minaya said. “I said, ‘No, I’m not. He’s waiting for your phone call.’”
A dozen years later, Minaya was also instrumental in getting me back in touch with Tatis. A series of efforts had been unsuccessful until Minaya offered to help. Tatis and I spoke Saturday night, and I learned a lot more about the Tatis family, or as the 44-year- old father proudly called it, “the Tatis dynasty.”
In other words, if you think Fernando Jr. has been impressive as San Diego’s rookie shortstop, wait until you see his two younger brothers, ages 17 and 13. Had the White Sox known what they had in Fernando Jr., they would still have him.
“It’s been amazing,” Tatis said, “how fast he has come along. The San Diego general manager saw Junior when he was only 15 and said ‘I don’t have to see any more.’”
While waiting for his sons to play in the majors, Tatis operates his own baseball academy and continues enjoying his relationship with his father, who after all is the patriarch of the Tatis dynasty.
A FOND FAREWELL TO LOYAL READERS
This marks the end of this site’s 11-year existence. When I began writing these columns 11 years ago (July 15, 2008), I never imagined I would still be writing them 11 years later, but now it’s time to focus my attention on another project.
I’m working on a book and need to devote all of my time to it. I actually enjoy daily or weekly writing more than long-term projects. That’s why I have written more than 900 columns in these 11 years.
I am not saying the column will never appear again. If there’s a development that I feel demands my attention, I could be lured back into the fray. As long as I maintain the website, you will be notified if there is a new column.
In the meantime, I thank all of the column’s loyal readers and wish you good baseball reading, wherever you can find it.
Finally, there is one person I would like to recognize and thanks for his years of service, but I’ll leave it at that because anything more would be deleted. Nevertheless, he has my sincere thanks.