San Diego Padres

San Diego Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. was suspended 80 games Friday for violating Major League Baseball's performance-enhancing drug policy, and now, general manager A.J. Preller is questioning the slugger's maturity.

"I think we're hoping that from the offseason to now, that there would be some maturity. And obviously with the news today, it's more of a pattern and something we've got to dig a little bit more into," Preller told reporters. "I'm sure he's very disappointed but at the end of the day, it's one thing to say it. You have to start by showing it with your actions."

"I think what we need to get to is a point in time we trust [him]. Over the course of the last six or seven months, that's been something that we haven't been really able to have there," Preller added, via ESPN's Jeff Passan.

"I think from our standpoint, obviously he's a great talent, he's a guy we have a lot of history with and do believe in, but these things only work when there's trust both ways.''

Tatis tested positive for the performance-enhancing drug Clostebol, according to Passan. He will miss the remainder of the 2022 season and will miss the beginning of the 2023 campaign while serving the suspension.

The 2021 All-Star also will not be allowed to compete for the Dominican Republic at the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

Tatis said in a statement that he took the drug as a mistake and is not appealing the ban:

"It turns out that I inadvertently took a medication to treat ringworm that contained Clostebol. I should have used the resources available to me in order to ensure that no banned substances were in what I took. I failed to do so.

"I want to apologize to Peter [Seidler], AJ [Preller], the entire Padres organization, my teammates, Major League Baseball and fans everywhere for my mistake. I have no excuse for my error, and I would never do anything to cheat or disrespect this game I love."

The 23-year-old hasn't played any games for the Padres this season and was on a rehab assignment with one of San Diego's minor league affiliates after recovering from wrist surgery stemming from a reported motorcycle accident.

Tatis emerged as a star in MLB when he broke onto the scene in 2019, finishing third in Rookie of the Year voting after slashing .317/.379/.590 with 22 home runs and 53 RBI in 84 games.

He followed that up hitting .277/.366/.571 with 17 home runs and 45 RBI in 59 games during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. He finished fourth in MVP voting and earned his first Silver Slugger Award.

Tatis went on to have another impressive season in 2021, hitting .282/.364/.611 with 42 home runs and 97 RBI in 130 games. He earned his first All-Star Game selection, his second Silver Slugger Award and finished third in MVP voting.

Not having Tatis available for the postseason is a tough blow for the Padres, who entered Friday's game against the Washington Nationals second in the NL West with a 63-51 record. Luckily, the franchise now has another superstar in Juan Soto, who should help them make a solid playoff run.

Six days after going out on a rehab assignment in his next step to return from a fractured wrist, San Diego Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr.'s return is going to be delayed until the 2023 season.

Major League Baseball announced Friday that Tatis has received an 80-game suspension for violating the league's performance-enhancing drug policy after testing positive for Clostebol.

Padres statement on Tatis suspension: pic.twitter.com/dRUQsHfy5a

— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) August 12, 2022

In a statement issued by the MLB Players Association, Tatis noted he "inadvertently took a medication to treat ringworm" that contained the banned substance:

The Major League Baseball Players Association issued the following statement on behalf of Fernando Tatis, Jr.: pic.twitter.com/gCNVcs0a5Y

— MLBPA Communications (@MLBPA_News) August 12, 2022

Per Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Tatis will also be ineligible to play for the Dominican Republic in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

The former All-Star shortstop appeared to be on the brink of making his 2022 debut. He appeared in four games with Double-A San Antonio on a rehab assignment, collecting two hits Aug. 9.

It's unclear when Tatis suffered the wrist injury. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported in December that the 23-year-old suffered "minor scrapes" in an accident in the Dominican Republic.

Dominican reporter Baudilio Jiménez (h/t Dayn Perry of CBS Sports) noted Tatis was driving a motorcycle at the time of the accident and received treatment at a medical facility for minor injuries.

Perry noted Tatis was believed to have resumed baseball activities at the time. The Padres announced March 16 he had surgery with a three-month recovery timetable.

Tatis will have to sit out the final 48 games of the 2022 regular season and first 32 games next season under the suspension. His last appearance in an MLB game was on Oct. 3, 2021, against the San Francisco Giants.

The Padres did add to their lineup before the trade deadline by acquiring Juan Soto and Josh Bell from the Washington Nationals on Aug. 2.

San Diego (63-51) currently leads the Milwaukee Brewers (60-50) by one game for the final wild card in the National League.

San Diego Padres outfielder Juan Soto called his final weeks in Washington "uncomfortable" after the Nationals' $440 million contract extension offer was leaked to the media.

"We tried to keep it as private as we can, and this number just came out. ... it was pretty tough," Soto told ESPN. "It was uncomfortable. I was trying to get things private, keep talking and all that kind of stuff, but they just throw that number out there. It feels really uncomfortable. It really shocked me, and it feels really painful."

The Nationals traded Soto and first baseman Josh Bell to the Padres for C.J. Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, Robert Hassell III, James Wood, Jarlin Susana and Luke Voit at the deadline in what's been called one of the largest trade hauls in MLB history.

Soto signed with the Nationals as an international free agent in 2015 at age 16. He quickly worked his way through the organization and made his MLB debut in 2018, bursting onto the scene as an instant-impact superstar.

Equipped with elite power and the best batting eye of his generation, Soto finished in the top 10 in NL MVP voting in each of his first three full seasons in Washington and built a resume that made him a near-lock to become the highest-paid player in baseball history when he hit free agency. The Nationals offered him a historic 15-year, $440 million offer that doubled as the largest guarantee in MLB history and a clear low-ball offer.

"At the end of the day, it is what it is," Soto said. "I was feeling great on that team. I was feeling pretty good. I was trying my best. They let me know about it, early in the year, that it is a business and they would love to get me, but this and that."

Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo called the decision to trade Soto "brutal" and said it was "emotional" for him given the relationship he's developed with the outfielder and his family over the years. Soto's younger brother, Elian, is set to sign with the organization when he becomes eligible in January.

San Diego Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. will begin a rehab assignment this weekend in San Antonio with the club's Double-A affiliate as he nears a return from a wrist injury that has sidelined him for the entire 2022 season.

There is still no firm timetable for his return.

"I don't think we have a set amount of at-bats," Padres manager Bob Melvin said of the club's goals for Tatis' assignment. "And also, you'd like to get a guy back here when he's swinging the bat pretty well too. We are later in the season; this isn't going to be a three-week process to get him back here, so we'll just take it day to day and see where he is physically and how he's feeling at the plate."

Tatis was one of the best players in MLB in 2021. He finished with 42 home runs, 25 steals and a .611 slugging percentage. The dynamic shortstop showed exactly why the Padres were willing to hand him a 14-year, $340 million extension

That made it all the more frustrating when Tatis underwent surgery on his wrist in the offseason.

Padres general manager A.J. Preller made it clear when he provided an update in mid-June the 23-year-old was no closer to returning.

A.J. Preller said Fernando Tatis Jr.'s imaging yesterday did not show enough healing in his wrist for him to begin swinging a bat. Preller said the exam overall was "positive." The Padres plan to take it week to week with Tatis' timeline. No decision yet on his next wrist scan.

— Dennis Lin (@dennistlin) June 14, 2022

Despite missing their best player, the Padres are 61-47 and on pace to claim a wild-card berth in the National League.

Manny Machado has played at an MVP-type level, while Jake Cronenworth, Jurickson Profar and the rest of the offense have done enough to make up for Tatis' absence, with Juan Soto joining the club from the Washington Nationals ahead of the trade deadline.

Still, there's a sense San Diego is treading water a bit until Tatis is finally back in the lineup and that the team's World Series hopes rest on his contributions.

Juan Soto sent a clear message to opposing pitchers who will be facing the new-look San Diego Padres lineup.

"It's going to be really exciting," Soto told reporters when asked about San Diego's offense. "I wish good luck to the other pitchers."

The Padres pulled off one of the biggest blockbuster trades in Major League Baseball history on Tuesday. They acquired Soto and Josh Bell from the Washington Nationals for six players, including C.J. Abrams, MacKenzie Gore and top prospect Robert Hassell III.

It was a massive return for the Nationals, with The Athletic's Keith Law calling it "the biggest prospect haul in a single trade in my lifetime" and "the best" deal general manager Mike Rizzo could have gotten under the circumstances.

Coming into the season, MLB.com ranked Abrams, Hassell and Gore as top 100 prospects. James Wood, who was also in the deal, is currently the No. 88 prospect in baseball.

But the Padres did it knowing they were bringing in one of the best players in the sport during his age-23 season and adding Bell, who is having a career year, to boost a lineup that needed plenty of help as they chase a playoff spot.

Soto and Bell will likely play right field and first base, respectively, in San Diego.

This Padres lineup is loaded. 👀 pic.twitter.com/sQJhH6W1IG

— MLB (@MLB) August 3, 2022

Padres right fielders have a .233/.286/.323 slash line with three homers and 39 RBI in 378 at-bats this season. Their first basemen are hitting .266/.339/.406 with 10 homers and 52 RBI in 402 at-bats.

In total, the Padres offense had a league average wRC+ (100) as previously constructed, per FanGraphs.

Soto is hitting .246/.408/.485 with 21 homers, 46 RBI and 29 more walks (91) than strikeouts (62) in 436 plate appearances in 2022. Bell has a .301/.384/.493 slash line with 14 homers and 57 RBI.

On top of the likely improvement at those two positions, All-Star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. looks to be moving closer toward making his 2022 debut. He faced live pitching for the first time all season Monday and could go out on a rehab assignment as soon as Friday.

Add all the pieces together, and the Padres lineup is going to have very few easy outs going into the stretch run. They still have 12 games remaining against the Los Angeles Dodgers, so it's not impossible for them to make up their 12-game deficit in the NL West.

But the additions of Soto and Bell were done to prepare this roster for a potential deep run in October. It certainly looks like a brilliant move on paper. Fans will get their first taste of what it will look like on Wednesday when the Padres host the Colorado Rockies.

Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo on Wednesday addressed the trade of Juan Soto, calling it a "brutal" and "emotional" moment for the franchise.

"Brutal scene. It was very, very difficult," Rizzo told The Sports Junkies. "I had kept Juan and Josh in the loop on where we were at during the trade talks and that type of thing, because I think it's only right to inform them, because they're reading all the stuff that's out there and that type of thing."

The Nationals traded Soto and first baseman Josh Bell to the San Diego Padres for MacKenzie Gore, C.J. Abrams, Robert Hassell III, James Wood, Jarlin Susana and Luke Voit ahead of Tuesday's MLB trade deadline. The move was an about-face for Rizzo, who previously said the organization had no plans to trade the 23-year-old two-time All-Star.

Rizzo said the team's outlook changed when Soto rejected a 15-year, $440 million contract extension. While most observers feel the Nationals received a historic haul from the Padres, Rizzo called his meeting with Soto to inform him of the trade an "emotional time."

"Yeah, it was a warm farewell and it was very emotional," Rizzo said. "I told him I loved him and he'll always be a part of my history and my family, and go on and have the career that we all think you're gonna have. And that was it. Yeah. We signed him at 16-and-a-half years old. I had known him since he was 14. It was...yeah, it's a very emotional time."

Washington signed Soto in 2015. Early this year, Elian Soto, Juan's younger brother, verbally agreed to sign with the team when he becomes eligible in January.

So while the divorce between Juan Soto and the Nationals was one few saw coming before the 2022 season, the two sides also apparently have no hard feelings.

Not everyone is sold on the San Diego Padres' trade for Juan Soto.

One National League executive wondered if the Padres are building too much of a top-heavy roster around Soto, Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr.

"San Diego is in danger of entering Angels territory within the next few years," the executive told Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. "A strong top-third of the roster with below-average depth behind it due to a series of system-busting trades."

The Padres traded MacKenzie Gore, C.J. Abrams, Robert Hassell III, James Wood, Jarlin Susana and Luke Voit to the Nationals in exchange for Soto and Josh Bell, a deal that's been described as one of the biggest prospect hauls in baseball history.

Gore and Abrams are former top prospects who made their MLB debuts this season, and Hassell is a quality outfield prospect who could be ready for a call-up next season. Wood and Susana are both teenagers still getting their feet wet with pro ball, but Wood has looked like a promising outfielder in his limited time in Single-A.

That said, none of the players given up have a ceiling that even remotely touches that of Soto, who is one of baseball's premier players at age 23. The All-Star is a generational talent, gifted with a combination of power and eye at the plate that is borderline unheard of for someone his age.

With Soto and Tatis, the Padres have arguably the game's two brightest under-25 stars. Locking up Soto before he hits free agency will be expensive—he'll likely seek to become the highest-paid player in MLB history—but would give the Padres the best one-two punch in the sport for at least the next decade.

Whether San Diego's World Series pursuit proves fruitful may simply depend on how much ownership is willing to spend. If the Tatis-Soto-Machado-Bell top of the lineup is kept together for the foreseeable future, there aren't many—if any—teams that can compete with that level of talent.

Superstar outfielder Juan Soto tweeted a message of thanks to the Washington Nationals and their fans early Wednesday morning following his pre-deadline trade to the San Diego Padres on Tuesday.

In a series of tweets, Soto expressed gratitude for the Nats organization and the fans who supported him, while also mentioning the importance of helping Washington win its first World Series title in 2019:

Thank you to the Nationals organization for the opportunity to realize a childhood dream. I am forever grateful to my teammates and coaches, as well as the player development and training staffs. pic.twitter.com/msrTSv48a1

— Juan José Soto Pacheco (@JuanSoto25_) August 3, 2022

To my Nats Fans: since day one I’ve always had the feeling you would have a special space in my heart but the appreciation that I have for you went over my expectations.
Thank you for being such a great family to me. With Love & Gratitude...Forever Yours,
Juan Soto

— Juan José Soto Pacheco (@JuanSoto25_) August 3, 2022

After Soto reportedly rejected multiple contract extension offers, the Nationals made him available via trade leading up to the deadline, and they sealed a blockbuster deal on Tuesday.

All told, the Nationals received a bevy of prospects and young players in shortstop C.J. Abrams, outfielders Robert Hassell III and James Wood, and pitchers MacKenzie Gore and Jarlin Susana, as well as veteran first baseman Luke Voit in exchange for Soto and first baseman Josh Bell.

While the Nationals had to part ways with one of the game's great young stars in the 23-year-old Soto, their rebuild received a major jump-start in the form of multiple players who can contribute now and in the near future.

During at least parts of five seasons with the Nats, Soto left an indelible mark on the franchise.

He earned two All-Star selections, two Silver Slugger awards, one batting title and won a World Series in 2019. Also, in one of his final appearances in a Nationals uniform, he won the 2022 Home Run Derby.

In 2018, Soto came out firing and finished second in the National League Rookie of the Year voting. He followed that with a career-high 34 home runs and 110 RBI the next season en route to winning the World Series.

In the COVID-shortened 2020 season, Soto won the batting title with a .351 average and led the NL with a .490 on-base percentage and .695 slugging percentage.

Last season, Soto finished second in the NL MVP voting when he slashed .313/.465/.534 with 29 homers and 95 RBI.

He got off to a slow start this season, but he has turned things around over the past month and is slashing .246/.408/.485 with 21 home runs and 46 RBI.

Despite his solid play, the Nationals are just 36-69 this season and seem in line for a long rebuild, which is partially why the Soto trade made sense despite the fact that he could have been the face of the franchise for years had he signed a new deal.

The trade instantly changes Soto's outlook as well since he is headed to a Padres team in the thick of the playoff race with a 60-46 record.

Soto will join a stacked lineup that will eventually include Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr., the latter of whom is working his way back from a wrist injury.

The Padres have the pieces to be contenders in 2022 and beyond, and Soto could turn out to be the player who helps them win their first World Series in franchise history.

The San Diego Padres aren't done making moves just yet.

The Cincinnati Reds announced they traded infielder Brandon Drury to the San Diego Padres for shortstop prospect Victor Acosta ahead of Tuesday's 6 p.m. ET deadline.

Ken Rosenthal and C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic and Robert Murray of FanSided initially reported details of the deal.

Acosta was the sixth-ranked prospect in the Padres' farm system on MLB.com ahead of this move. He is slashing .243/.346/.706 with two home runs, 11 RBI and five stolen bases in 111 minor league at-bats this season.

Yet the headline here is another move by the Padres.

First, they acquired four-time All-Star closer Josh Hader in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers. That alone would have been a notable addition as San Diego attempts to close the gap with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West ahead of the playoffs.

However, it then stole headlines with a blockbuster Tuesday when they landed Juan Soto and Josh Bell in a trade with the Washington Nationals. It sent shortstop C.J. Abrams, pitcher MacKenzie Gore, outfielder Robert Hassell III, outfielder James Wood, pitcher Jarlin Susana and first baseman/DH Luke Voit to the Nationals.

Eric Hosmer was included in the initial trade, but Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported he rejected the deal with his no-trade clause. ESPN's Jeff Passan reported the Padres eventually traded Hosmer to the Boston Red Sox.

While Drury isn't as big of a name as Soto, Bell or Hader, he is in the middle of a career-best season.

He slashed .274/.335/.520 with 20 home runs and 59 RBI in 92 games as a bright spot for a struggling Reds team. The veteran has also played for the Arizona Diamondbacks, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays and New York Mets but never hit more than the 16 home runs he launched in his first full season in 2016.

Drury is now in the middle of a playoff race and can play all across the infield for the Padres as they look to mix-and-match their now loaded lineup.

After months of constantly changing speculation involving the Yankees, Dodgers, Mets, Cardinals, Rangers, Mariners and others, it was the San Diego Padres who won the Juan Soto sweepstakes on the morning of MLB's trade deadline Tuesday.

For the superstar right fielder and first baseman Josh Bell, the Padres sent the Washington Nationals shortstop C.J. Abrams, left-handed pitcher MacKenzie Gore, first baseman Luke Voit, outfielder Robert Hassell III, outfielder James Wood and right-handed pitcher Jarlin Susana.

The Nats end up with one of the biggest hauls in trade history.

But they absolutely could have gotten more for Soto.

We toss around this two-word phrase way more often that we should as sports fans, but Soto truly is a generational talent.

At just 23 years old, he's theoretically still five years away from hitting his peak. And yet, he's 16th in MLB history in career OPS and 20th in career wRC+, and it seemingly has become an unspoken rule that you cannot mention what Soto has accomplished in his career without also mentioning Ted Williams.

Since the start of his rookie season (2018), only Soto (.427) and Mike Trout (.429) have amassed an on-base percentage north of .400.

Soto is also fifth in the majors in runs scored (399) during that time, this despite not getting called up until 40-plus games into his rookie season and spending the past two-and-a-half years with virtually no lineup protection behind him.

What interested teams should be asking themselves about Juan Soto pursuit:
What would we have been willing to give up to get Henry Aaron in 1958?
Willie Mays in 1955?
Ted Williams in 1941?
Trout in 2014?
Because that’s the kind of statistical neighborhood Soto inhabits at Age 23

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 27, 2022

To get a hitter of that caliber, the Padres had to assemble quite the trade package.

Voit's 13 home runs now lead the Nationals with Soto and Bell gone. Gore was the No. 3 pick in the 2017 draft. Abrams went sixth overall in 2019. Both entered 2021 as top 10 prospects in baseball, per MLB.com's rankings, and they immediately become two of the five most valuable—if not indisputably the two most valuable—players in the Nationals' organization.

Hassell is 21st in MLB.com's prospect rankings. Wood is 88th. And Susana is an intriguing 18-year-old prospect who the Padres picked up during the international signing period in January.

But even without factoring in Bell, there's little question that San Diego won this trade.

A dollar in exchange for two quarters, two dimes and a lottery ticket is a no-brainer move for the team getting the dollar. Prior to this morning, when rumors of a possible Soto/Bell package started swirling, we assumed it would take something on par with that five-player platter to have any hope of getting just Soto.

But throw in the two-month rental of Bell—who ranks 20th among all batters in Baseball Reference WAR this season—and San Diego goes from simply winning the swap to pulling off one of the greatest trade deadline heists of all time.

(Speaking as a fan of the Nationals who's living in the DMV area: Thanks, I hate it. With the sheer amount of money tied up in Stephen Strasburg, Patrick Corbin and the ghost of Max Scherzer, competing any time soon was always going to be a challenge. But watching a team effectively throw in the towel on the next 2.5 seasons is never fun.)

Does this trade make the Padres the favorite to win the 2022 World Series?

Well, no.

The Dodgers, Yankees, Astros and Mets are still doggone good, and MLB's new postseason format increases the likelihood of either the No. 1 or No. 2 seed representing each league in the Fall Classic.

But while they aren't the new favorite to win it all, the Padres are certainly a more legitimate threat.

Their World Series odds on DraftKings went from +2000 to +1100 in an instant, and that's with superstar shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. still at least a week or two away from making his 2022 debut. If he comes back from his wrist injury and immediately starts bat flipping all over the place, San Diego becomes that much more of a problem.

They won't catch the Dodgers for first place in the NL West. Making up a 12-game gap in two months' time—on the team with the best winning percentage in baseball, no less—is all but impossible.

However, if the standings more or less hold to form and we end up with the NL's No. 1 seed Dodgers hosting the NL's No. 4/5 seed Padres in the NLDS, well, let's just say this lineup has more than a puncher's chance in what will feel like a World Series-caliber showdown:

Where does this lineup stack up? pic.twitter.com/aBstrBTWGW

— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) August 2, 2022

Three-and-a-half years after signing Manny Machado, 20 months after trading for both Yu Darvish and Blake Snell, 18 months after effectively making Tatis a Padre for life with a 14-year deal and not even a full day after fleecing the Brewers in a trade for closer Josh Hader, the Padres have finally reached their fully evolved form.

Though this trade doesn't make the Padres the World Series favorite in 2022, it arguably does make them the early favorite in the clubhouse for 2023 and possibly 2024 too.

Bell will hit free agency after this season. So, too, will Sean Manaea and Mike Clevinger. But in the face of a batting nucleus of Soto, Tatis, Machado and Jake Cronenworth and a pitching nucleus of Darvish, Snell, Joe Musgrove and Hader, even the bottomless-pocketed Dodgers might not be able to put together a contender that strong.

The Padres already have Machado signed through 2028 (though he does have an opt-out available after next season) and Tatis through 2034. The next step is locking down Soto beyond 2024.

We already know 15 years, $440 million wasn't enough to keep him in D.C., but whatever the dollar amount ends up being, you've got to believe San Diego will be willing to pay it, considering how much it gave up to get him. And if it does reach a long-term deal with the OPS phenom, the trio of Soto, Tatis and Machado in the heart of the order will keep San Diego in the running for every World Series through the end of the decade.

If reading that last sentence doesn't come as a shock to your system, it should, because San Diego has never won a World Series. It did get there twice, in 1984 and 1998, but it went 1-8 in those games, and those were the only two times in more than a half-century of franchise history that the Padres reached an NLCS.

With what they've accomplished at this year's trade deadline, though, I would bet an irresponsible amount of money on this team winning at least one World Series before 2030.