Fernando Tatis
Been a busy couple of weeks, and haven’t been particularly inspired by the transactions, though I have been interviewing some author and Hall of Fame shortstop and TV executive types for some stories on BaseballDigest.com and NewJerseyNewsroom.com, so feel free to check those out if you wish… My favorite was the author of a new book about Joe Black, it’s a quick and easy read from a guy with a unique perspective on Mr. Black. Highly recommended.
METS – Placed INF/OF Fernando Tatis on the 15-day DL.
Tatis reminds me, in a way, of Ruben Sierra. Sierra all but disappeared from the baseball scene, then re-emerged in the Independent Leagues before hooking back up with Texas and eventually re-inventing his image as a “good guy” after some years of a selfish persona.
Tatis’s first dismissal from the game was, by all accounts, not related to attitude issues, but strictly performance. He also emerged with revived pep after a three-year hiatus in 2006 with Baltimore — it only seemed like it was longer than that because his last three MLB seasons were in Montreal from ‘01-’03.
But even after it seemed the Baltimore experiment was to fail (Tatis went .250/.313/.500 in 64 AB’s with the O’s), Tatis didn’t give up, signing with the Mets and playing the whole ‘07 season in the minors before coming back up for good in ‘08, playing a much larger role the past two seasons than most Met fans (and maybe Tatis himself) could imagine.
Hitting just .185 so far this year, the D.L. assignment could be a precursor to release, especially if the Mets, as expected, get aggressive at the end of the month and try to add a bat or two to the lineup. This kind of fade-away season, not uncommon for 35-year-old players living on borrowed time, would be a sad end, if that’s the case.
I, for one, am rooting for Tatis to find his way, against all the odds, back to a Major League field.
He’s done it before.