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of Padres It was the whale at the poker table. They kept pushing the chips in the middle. Blow away the luxury tax for the second year in a row.the best young players Juan Soto When Josh Bell. trading Josh Hader Next year’s inning closer will be paid about $15 million. Traded 8 of 10 first-round picks under AJ Preller. It boosted his salary to a franchise record of his $230 million, more than double what he had five years ago.
The Padres saw the window now open to clinch the franchise’s first World Championship. The vision is Fernando Tatis Jr. We’ll be back with this season’s stretch run and postseason lineup. The Padres had all the stars lined up until little Clostebol blew up their plans.
In one of baseball’s most shocking and high-profile drug busts since he was suspended in 2005, Tatis was on the injury list and playing for under $340. , tested positive for clostebol, a banned synthetic anabolic androgenic steroid. million, 14-year contract. He was on minor league rehab duty recovering from a broken wrist he sustained in an off-season motorcycle accident. He claimed that his Clostebol in his system came from a drug he took to treat ringworm. Clostebol is preferred by some drug scams because it offers the benefits of increased testosterone (muscle growth) with less increase in estrogen levels as a by-product. On Friday, he accepted his 80-game suspension without appeal. There are 48 games left this year and the first 32 games of next season. He is ineligible for postseason play this year.
Silver Slugger Tatis, Soto, the pinnacle of dreams in the Soto lineup Manny Machado— star power worth $56.8 million this year alone — won’t happen this season. And now San Diego is less likely to make the playoffs.
At the time of the suspension, the Padres were clinging to the final playoff spot, the third wildcard slot in the NL. They are, cardinals All in a best-of-three series in St. Louis.
245 in the final 41 games played by Tatis, who has not fully healed from a shoulder injury late last season. This year, the Padres are Soto, Bell, Brandon Drury, to get another trading deadline, to prevent another collapse. They had the fewest home runs and the worst slugging percentage of any National League candidate this weekend.
San Diego dodgers Also Mets If only it could get past the first round series. The Padres outfielder has only 29 home runs with a .227 batting average. It adds the 2021 NL Home Run Champion and one of the most exciting players in baseball.
The Padres still maintain a dynamite rotation with swings and misses. With Darvish, Blake Snell, Sean Manair, Joe Musgrove When Mike Clevinger All strike out at least 8.6 hitters per nine innings. And they reached playoff position with 48 games left without Tatis playing a single game. But make no mistake. Tatis is one of the five best players in the game who could have made a difference.
San Diego learned that the person it identified as a franchise player could not be trusted. Due to injuries, a motorcycle accident, PED bankruptcy, and a season-shortened season due to COVID, Tatis played more than 130 games in his first five years in the major leagues. He never plays and misses at least 43% of the team’s games.
The Padres pledged $1.046 billion to sign or acquire in recent years Will Myers, Eric Hosmer, Tatis, Machado, Soto, Hader and Musgrove. It’s been a spending cramp like nothing since. diamondbacks I tripled my salary from 1998 to 2002. The Padres consistently earns him 20% to 50% above the MLB average.
“French franchises rarely change like the Padres,” said one high-ranking baseball source. “We will spend this much money before the success of the team.”
Soto is under contract through 2024, which means San Diego can deploy the trio of Tatis, Soto and Machado for two seasons (not until next May), but Bell will be free agency after this season. becomes. In the meantime, the Padres will have to qualify for the playoffs this year unless Tatis delivers the boost they’ve been hoping for all season.
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