Tatis Sr.: Cardinals had many chances to sign Padres superstar
In what may become one of Major League Baseball's greatest what-if scenarios, San Diego Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. very easily could have been a member of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Even before Tatis signed with the Chicago White Sox as an amateur free agent in 2015, he worked out repeatedly with the Cardinals, one of his father's former teams.
"(Fernando Jr.) was shown in 19 tryouts with the St. Louis Cardinals organization," Fernando Tatis Sr. told Hector Gomez of Deportivo Z 101. "The tools, the skills, everything was there. Many times I asked myself why they didn't sign him. Finally, the White Sox signed him but then traded him to the Padres."
The elder Tatis spent parts of three seasons with the Cardinals during his 11-year career. In 300 games with the club, he hit .282/.389/.525 with 60 home runs, including a career-best 34 long balls in 1999.
His son debuted for the San Diego Padres last season and immediately made his presence known by batting .317 with 22 homers in 84 games before suffering a season-ending back injury. He hasn't missed a beat in 2020, however, as he's crushed eight round-trippers in 20 contests while slashing .304/.375/.684.
With his father's words in mind, it seems like the White Sox - who traded the budding MVP candidate in 2016 for James Shields - aren't the only team to miss the boat. While the Cardinals have gotten solid contribution from current shortstop Paul DeJong, Tatis would have been a welcome addition to their offense.