Inside The Padres

Former White Sox GM Reveals Surprising Reason Fernando Tatis Almost Stayed With Chicago

J.P. Hoornstra|
San Diego Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. (23) in the dugout against the Atlanta Braves in the sixth inning at Truist Park on May 24.
San Diego Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. (23) in the dugout against the Atlanta Braves in the sixth inning at Truist Park on May 24. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

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Despite his famous name, Fernando Tatis Jr. was not the most highly touted prospect in the Chicago White Sox's farm system when he was traded to the San Diego Padres on June 4, 2016 for James Shields.

Tatis took out a loan to further his career as a minor leaguer, a loan that was ultimately repaid (and then some) out of his 14-year, $340 million contract extension. He would not become a Top-100 prospect until two years after the trade.

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And, remarkably, Tatis wasn't even the main prospect the Padres asked for when they began discussing the terms of a Shields trade with then-White Sox general manager Rick Hahn.

Hahn revealed that surprising detail Sunday in an interview with MLB Network. While conceding he made a "horrible trade," he also said the Padres originally asked for pitcher Erik Johnson (a fringe major leaguer who made only four starts as a Padre) and another pitcher.

"San Diego actually asked for Erik Johnson ... as well as another arm initially. We were reluctant to include two arms," Hahn said. "The second arm never went on to actually appear" in the majors.

"We pushed back," Hahn continued. "We wound up shuffling and pivoting in the end. They asked for Tatis, which they deserve a ton of credit for, identifying this guy out of complex ball as someone they wanted."

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If Hahn had not been so reluctant to include two pitchers in the White Sox's package for Shields, Tatis might have remained in Chicago — arguably the missing piece in their abbreviated postseason runs in 2020 and 2021.

Hahn defended the wisdom behind the trade, with the team hovering around .500 in a winnable American League Central at the time. Shields was durable, having made no fewer than 31 starts a year the previous nine seasons. But he was a disaster in Chicago, going 4-12 with a 6.77 ERA after the trade. The White Sox missed the playoffs.

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In San Diego, Tatis became a fixture of the franchise's resurgence. His rookie season (2019) marked the franchise's most recent fifth-place finish in the National League West, but it was the third in four years at the time.

Since then, the Padres have finished no worse than third in the division, reaching the postseason in three of five seasons.

Kudos to Hahn for setting the record straight: He almost didn't make one of the worst trades in baseball history, but A.J. Preller's persistence made sure that he did.

For more Padres news, head over to Padres on SI.

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J.P. Hoornstra
J.P. HOORNSTRA

J.P. Hoornstra is an On SI Contributor. A veteran of 20 years of sports coverage for daily newspapers in California, J.P. covered MLB, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Los Angeles Angels (occasionally of Anaheim) from 2012-23 for the Southern California News Group. His first book, The 50 Greatest Dodgers Games of All-Time, published in 2015. In 2016, he won an Associated Press Sports Editors award for breaking news coverage. He once recorded a keyboard solo on the same album as two of the original Doors.

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