Can The Red Sox Pull Off A Fernando Tatis Jr. Trade?
It’s hard not to be heartbroken if you’re a Red Sox fan today. Even the robot President of Baseball Ops doesn’t blame the fans for being upset. The Red Sox lost Xander Bogaerts and I have no idea how they plan to replace him. Signing Carlos Correa would make a lot of sense but it’s hard to feel confident that this ownership / front office group will win the high bid on a different high priced shortstop. What if there is another avenue out there that somehow involves Fernando Tatis Jr.?
With Bogaerts in San Diego, there isn’t a clear spot for Tatis anymore. Shortstop is Tatis’ natural position as he’s now forced to play a corner outfield spot. Furthermore, San Diego isn’t exactly thrilled with him after he was suspended for PED use missing out on their postseason run. I tend to believe the idea of trading Tatis isn’t totally off the table. Especially for a club that has now crossed the highest luxury tax threshold.
The offseason is far from finished and there are still holes on this Padres roster. Currently, San Diego projects to have an Opening Day payroll of $233 million. Oh, and that number is without Tatis on the roster. Including his salary number (roughly $21 million) the Padres are past the super tax penalty. A number this ownership group has never been close to approaching in the past.
Does Tatis want to play the outfield? Is there too much bad blood here already? Those are questions rival clubs need to start asking. Especially one man by the name of Chaim Bloom who finds himself firmly on the hot seat if the Red Sox don’t start winning again.
Yes, maybe it would be odd to do business with the team that just stole Xander Bogaerts. However, AJ Preller and Bloom have proven to have a great working relationship. They have made two trades with each other in a short period of time. One was sending Mitch Moreland to San Diego. The other was facilitating the Eric Hosmer trade when he didn’t approve of being sent to Washington. Some general managers simply have a better relationship with some over others. If Tatis does get shopped, Bloom figures to be someone Preller will be calling. OR vice versa.
They’re not wrong. Tatis doesn’t have a seat at the table and this would be another chance for Preller to restock some of the depth he’s traded away in the past. Those pieces the Padres could get back in a deal for Tatis could help them in terms of contributors for the team now or trade pieces down the road. Regardless, it’s time to start talking about it.
If Tatis Jr. is potentially available, this is an avenue the Red Sox must explore. Especially if it’s a buy low scenario. Tatis, 23, hasn’t even scratched the surface of what he can become and is someone that could actually take away the pain of losing Bogaerts. He’s a much younger option as well as someone Bloom can sell this fan base to. It’s hard to know what a trade could look like but maybe they could offer to take on a bad contract like Drew Pomeranz in order to help San Diego reduce their tax bill.
Chaim Bloom needs to start coming up with answers or he’s going to lose his job. Trading for Fernando Tatis Jr. is the perfect life raft to save face with a city that’s growing really tired of losing homegrown talent.
