Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - Fernando Tatís Jr SUSPENDED for 80 Games | 527

Episode Date: August 13, 2022

Tatís suspened 80 games for PED use. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello and welcome to an impromptu episode of talking baseball. It's going to be called episode number 527. Fernando Tatez Jr. suspended 80 games for PEDs. No BBD, no Jake. It's Friday night and they're young. I put my baby to sleep, Trev. I got my monitor right here since I'm single dad this weekend. I love that.

I got about five of those things just sitting around my house right now. Nice. How are you doing on a Friday? hit with some big news. I was in the car with my kids in Olivia and you sent the text and then bam, my phone exploded with all my friends talking baseball. It's, I said it on my Twitter.

This is like a sit down moment for me. Like what? Yeah. Because of who he is. This isn't just like, this isn't just a good player getting tested positive and being out. It's Fernando Tatis Jr. who essentially MLB is marketed as the face of the game, James.

Yeah. is the most marketable young star. That's why I tweeted out, this sucks. And, man, I'm always kind of confused how, I didn't give a lot of context, but everyone was like, thought I meant it sucks. They suspended it. And I was like, no, it sucks that the most marketable young star

the game has come across in a while. Like, he was on the cover of the show. He was everywhere. They locked him up for a big contract. I've been talking about how fun like Fernando Mani has been. And now it's, I don't know what it's going to be coming 80, games but this isn't the first part of like the bad PR saga I guess you know he he's it's it's been the motorcycle accident and then according to him accidents and then how they got about that yeah like

that's what he said when he got in an accident they said which one he said which one are you referring to so multiple access and then and then all like we've been joking because they said he was a slow healer and it would suck if you took this or whatever. But to heal faster, but I think this steroid, I don't know how to pronounce it, it ends in bowl and starts with the cloths or something like that. I think you nailed it, Klostor bowl. I, no, I'm not a scientist. I was reading up on it.

It's one of the ones that has had like false positives. But also not really. It's still, it's not like a lot, but they say it has happened. but they also said you need to be taking it for a while for it to hit. Again, yeah, we don't know anything about this. That was my first initial reaction was like, well, there's like Turinibal. That was like the Chris Cullabello thing. And that happened to quite a few guys where they even took it as far in the UFC, I believe, to just get rid of that because guys were just getting popped too much for it.

And like there was something suspicious. I don't know if like this is the case he's saying he took some medication. for ring warm. Now, when I was a player, James, and you had problems, you went to the team doctor, or if you're not in the, if the team doctor's not available,

you go to a doctor that's adjacent to the team. And you get your prescriptions filled and you get all of that stuff through the team. You want to know why you do that? So dumb shit like this doesn't happen, if what he's saying is true.

It's so, it's so avoidable. He said they had a ringworm. That's kind of, I mean, I don't know anything, but so many people I get popped off. I didn't know I was taking something else. Like the number of people, and clearly they're still testing.

It's part of the thing now. The number of people that get popped is very small. This is the third one this year. There was two last year. I was just at the Wikipedia that had the full list. I refreshed the page and people are fucking with the Wikipedia so much. that now it literally just says players who have been tested positive. It just says Fernando Tati's Jr.

Like they, he's the only one because some people are messing with it, which it was a pretty good list going at one point. It's, I don't know how to put it, man. It's so disappointing and like, I want to give him the benefit of the doubt. But like I kind of like the more and more I've sat with it now.

It's been an hour since the news broke. We're talking about this. It just, it's, it's even. almost worse if it's not worse. I don't want to say that. It's bad if it's negligence.

It's just as bad. A little bit. That's the thing like, you know, we're 10 years into this now. What was the first suspension officially? It was 2005. So more than 10 years in this, but I know testing was different then.

But we're pretty deep into like regular testing and then all these accidental popping and things. So there's a lot of streams of conversations to have, I guess this is just like the initial reaction of like, damn, this sucks for baseball, 80 game suspension. Talk about it from the Padres. There's some fun ties. But this is the biggest name to get popped since Canoe.

And Canoe was kind of fading. Yeah. This is like almost on the same level as a Ryan Braun. Except maybe a little less shit was going on in this instance. Like there was a lot of stuff going on with Bronny. And, but Bron was MVP, but also Braun was of the time where like, names were popping up nonstop. It was like the witch hunt time where like it was like boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

Since it's been kind of just like three a year, Canoe was a big one. But then I think in people's heads, it was like, well, he's a fading superstar. And he's trying to regain youth, even though he might have been taking it the whole time. We don't know. But I mean, this is a 23 year old kid, two, four. I always want on the rise. I don't know if we've had this. You wonder like there's so many things that go through our mind.

I think it's okay to have these thoughts and talk about him. Like how long has this been happening? Has this been something that he's been doing and skirting the testing program for years? Or is this really he took the wrong medication? Like I don't know. I don't think any of us know. And probably James, we'll never know. That's kind of the problem here is we'll just never know.

It's it's clouded. and I guess it doesn't really matter though because he can't play this year he's going to miss the beginning of next year he obviously knew about it so what happens is you get told the PA gets told you get told first

and then you decide if you want to appeal okay he had I guess what he said is he initially appealed and then and then decided not to yeah so you can't That's, you can't not appeal, but then claim innocence.

Yes. You know what I'm saying? At least give it a chance. Yes. Judge just hit number 46 on the air. Did he really? Baseball needs. Is this going to be like the steroid era and, and the home run chase all wrapped in the one season?

Pump the home run chase. There's, uh, when did you think the team knew? They, the team is saying they found out today. And like, so maybe he dropped his appeal today. Because they're supposed to be that window where you have the opportunity to appeal it. So if you actually win your appeal, it's not like where accusation is just as bad as a conviction type thing. So, you know, I'm without being absolutely certain. I'm 90% certain.

This dude was playing the rehab games knowing this was coming down eventually. I mean, maybe he thought he had a chance in the appeal. And finally he's just like, oh, it's not going to work. so here it is and I better start serving it now. Do you think the Voight situation changes if they know? What do you think changes about the trades if they know? They probably take the Lord they made those trades. Yeah, but the whole thing was like they thought Tatis would come back,

which would play center field kind of. Or yeah, now they would now I wonder if they would probably not Hosmer because they wanted the money eight, but Boyt maybe is still on the team as DH spot. Yeah, and look, I mean, if you're a Padres fan, though it's terrible. I'm sorry. I feel really bad for you, but you still have a really good team that's been doing it without him the entire year. You know, the upgrades still help your team.

You still have a very good shot at the postseason. Is it deflating as all hell? Yeah, man. Yeah, man. And you know what? He's never going to be viewed the same either. That's what I was going to ask. So we've had some steroid guys, right, recently that are currently playing, serve their

suspension and are playing. They're not of the Cal. of markability of Tatis, nor the young star and the swagger and all that. But Frankie Montas, the Yankees just traded for. He got popped. He did 80 games.

Tim Beckham. He got 80 games. Michael Pineda got 60 games. And then who's Ramon Luriano, Pedro Severino, got him this year. But Luriano's back. And I feel like none of them are tainted, but I don't think they're big enough.

Exactly. Like, tainted for sure, but not. Like he was on a Hall of Fame. I mean, granted, it's only been a couple years. I mean, what is, how many games does this dude even play? Hey, not that many, but even like numbers aside, because I don't think, I mean, people are just going to kind of like, well, who knows? He was the face. They were trying to make him the face of baseball.

The guy's numbers put him on a Hall of Fame trajectory. James, he's had a 969, a 937 and a 975 OPS. How many games is he played? Over a thousand games. really yeah he's he's had excuse me a thousand games he's had 1100 plate appearances 273 games so i was like really yeah that's crazy i don't know why i said that in 2019 came up played 84 games almost played all the games in 2020 he played 59 out of 60 games in 2020 put 130 games last year led the league in homers last year led the league and homers last year i mean

this guy the guy's numbers is that is that in question probably how because this is this is This is a muscle building. This is the same thing that Dee Gordon got popped for. I just, I just don't, I just don't know how to process this, do you? The only thing that I've learned hanging around MLB players, like you and others, is that, okay, so let me backtrack to it. I, I said in a tweet, like, sucks that he cheated. and I getting lit up on some or I saw a couple of responses in quotes we'd be like

blah cheated okay dude and I'm like I I can I say that because that's how I know players say it like play like you and other people get get mad like well because we're all we're all competing for the same thing you're competing for a world series title you're competing and also on a more personal a spot in the big leagues um a roster spot if you will and like if you you're a guy that is as natural and doing things the right way, of course it pisses you off, man. And any walk of life, I don't care who you are, what you do. If somebody else is doing something better than you and you know they've taken something

or done something to get ahead, like that's that pisses you off. And this is at an extreme level because of the money and the notoriety and all that stuff. I think that like there's a perception that because back in when Giami was shooting himself up on the bus, and it was just a known thing in those years. There's a perception amongst fans that I had that like all players, even if they didn't do it, it's kind of like, if you don't smoke pot in high school, but your friends do, but you don't care.

You're just like, yeah, they do, you know, like, but I don't personally. Like, it's just my choice. But I was surprised to talk to players, especially like about Arod. We're like, no, dude, he's the biggest fucking cheater in the game. I don't like him. And I was like, oh, shit. Okay. So there's a contingent in players that,

aren't just like, wasn't for me, but everyone did it. There's players that legit, like it fired up about it. I don't think there's any player that's like, oh, fuck it who cares? Nobody feels that way. It just, it's, it's personal. You take it personally. And like I went on Instagram Live and I said this. Like, I think there's plenty of time to repair his image possibly.

I mean, he's got so much ahead of him. There's plenty. I mean, America loves an apology and a redemption story. It's like our favorite thing. like he yeah man the fact that they were pushing him so much to grab the youth and everyone everyone wants to be tautis and and look like him and play like him and now it's like i have to tell teddy about him and tell him like what's what what's going on and this is why he's not going to be in the postseason this is why you know like he's at an age now where he's asking me these

questions so it's like the role model thing he's He's going to have to work really, really hard to get that back, like, if he can't. Yeah. And then the PR game, he got his money, but wild. What does this do for the Padres? I mean, they still got a good squad without him. They got Soto for the next two years. Does he lose his star?

Like, when he finally returns, like, is it Machado's team, Soto's team? Like, is it going to be very hard for this to become Tatis's team? Because it was kind of that way last year when he, was healthy and in 2020. I think that here's a statement that my friend Anthony Swarzek used to tell me all the time. Performance trumps all. If this dude comes back and he's got a 965 OPS and he's crushing balls and he's helping the team win, it gets a little bit easier to forgive him and you start to say, all right,

maybe it was just a mistake. Maybe this is who he really is. So if he comes back and bangs, dude, it's just the way it is. people are going to forget about it. Other players, other cities, not going to forget about it. Yeah. You're going to get booed everywhere. In San Diego, I think it's, I play with dudes that are steroid dudes.

Everyone knows my relationship with Braun. Like, that took us a while to get over, but eventually, you know, like, I consider him one of my best friends right now. But it's, it takes time, dude. It takes time. Even if he comes out and crushes it, like in San Diego, sure, they'll forgive him. And his teammates will too because you got to. that's just part of the game. But I think around baseball, it's going to be,

it might be tough to get back on that level he was at. I want to ask a question. That's like a half joke, me 90% joke. It's kind of like a text message with your buddies thing, which we can't really do on this show anymore because it's a lot of people listen now and then they spin it, but I still, it's trolley. Robinson Canoe, busted twice.

Padre, is pick him up. He's there for like a week. Oh, no. Tatee is recovering. Damn, I don't even. I didn't even. That'd have been the awry, like the awry move. The one conversation, the Padre is like, wish we didn't bring Canoe around.

The worst mistake we made. Oh, my gosh. People are already saying that the White Sox won the trade. All this stuff. I don't know. As far as Padres, the, like, actual team. sure you'd like to have this dude back, but I don't think they,

the way they'll approach this in the clubhouse is, fuck it. He hasn't been here all year. Like, that's the exact way they'll approach it. We just got an upgrade, two upgrades, three upgrades. Like, the boys are here. We're good enough to do it. Let's go do it.

So they'll have a mini rally around this. Definitely going to be some weird vibes, because they're going to have to answer questions, which sucks for them. That's another thing. hey, Tateesh Jr., you're making your fucking teammates answer these questions, bro. You're making me and Jimmy on a Friday night

come here talking about this. So you're letting a lot of people down, man. That is like the other thing is don't make your teammates have to answer questions and now it's like a whole thing. It's a whole thing. And weren't him and Machado kind of lipping back and forth last year? Yeah, but then I think I even did a breakdown.

It was it was more, it was Machado being a fiery leader. Like, like, like, like pick it up. Like pick it up. Like it like like stop sulking. Like it was that vibe. Um, it was the third, it was a coach that they had a real problem with. And Machado was kind of given tough love. To go back to your point.

Like the pecking order of the Padres. Like if Tatis was at 1A with Machado. he's not there anymore. Like it's Machado, probably Soto, probably Joe Muskroof, probably Blake, like he's moving down the pecking or as guys

that can stand up in a room and command it and like make decisions and be that influence. Like he really is going to have to earn that back. Initially, it's going to be like, hey, like, Caiete,

basically, quiet. Or like, shut up. I knew that. I knew that. You knew that. Solentio.

Yeah. I'm Italian. We just go, Basta, Basta. It's going to be that way. And man, like, again, I hope it was negligence because it makes it a little bit more palatable for me. But also, that's really dumb and, like, you should never take anything that's not from. That's why, that's why there's a clause, the Players Association bargained for this. They supply supplements.

They, like, you get everything through the team because they don't want this. happen. I just I just have to think that because so few guys get popped out of how many people get tested. Like we're talking what? 300 guys get tested. Minor leaguers, major leaguers like, wait more than that, I guess. Is all the minor leagues? There's 750 people in the big leagues at any given time. Okay, not a math guy. But, um, or more than that because they've up the rosters. I'm sorry. Yeah, whatever. So let's say a thousand guys, including like guys that come up and down. I'll say right around a thousand guys. What's 40 times 30?

1200. Were you really going to bust out the calculator for that? Not a math guy, Trev. 1,200. So we're saying three guys a year out of 1,200. That's 0.0025%. So it's tough to be like, yep, another one just slipped through the cracks. It would happen more. you know if it was a false positive or or negligence like i don't know it's not it's not happening that much i'm about to claustible your brain for you're on your math side i don't know claustible

isn't that what the steroids call oh claustaball yeah i could i could use that the problem is i've given up like could i have done 30 times 40 in my head yes but i've completely like why flag to math. I go, I go in that situation, I go three times four is 12 and there's two zeros. Move the, yeah,

move that's it. I would, I've just given up. Like I'll punch in, basic arithmetic into my calculator and I'll be like, dude, I know that. But you want to make sure.

I'll do like 17 plus nine and I'll be like, do it. And I'm like, I know that. But I've just white flagged it the whole, the whole way through. People think it's a joke. When people met us in,

people met us at the All-Star game and we did a little Q&A. that guy came up to me and was like, are you really that? Like it's a joke, right? And I was like, no, no. It is kind of one of those things like, you don't really need to know like where you're going anymore because you, like,

it's given to you. And the same thing with the math, you can just look it up if you need to. It's, I think it's okay sometimes to just, let's put our brain function towards something else because we have this to help us. It's decision fatigue. You know,

just one less thing I got to think about. Here's here. I got one for you. Don't take costable. I just hope I don't get ringworm And then I'm good Why does he even Why does he have ringworm?

I don't know How do you get ringworm? I think you like fucking animal or something Is Joe's McFly have ringworm? I don't know how you get ringworm I don't know I don't know I don't know what ringworm is A rash on your skin

I think it's touching poop isn't it Like I know that I think you get it from touching poop Probably you probably get it from someone touching someone who has ringworm I don't know, man. I'm done. I got to get it.

You know what? It's Friday night. Yeah, enjoy it. Thanks for hanging out. New York versus New Jersey and Little League right now. Just a combination of the most fiery on-mic coaches you'll ever find. A speech every happening. This might be edited after the final version.

I don't care. But what happened in the Washington Oregon game? Are you doing a breakdown on that? Are you kidding me? they've ruined some kids' dreams because you're just like the worst umpire of all time I know you're a volunteer but holy crap dude yeah

he said fair but put his hands up foul oh he said fair and went like this that's I think what happened wasn't it foul on the review anyway how did they not overturn it I don't know what happened there I felt very bad for the umpires because it was like a real bad situation they are volunteers

so as much as I don't want to like ever I know I know kids it was just a tough thing and the other thing if you're watching the strike zone is two balls off the plate it is like don't get mad of the arms it's been that way forever

yeah no but like I think by rule in little league it's two balls off to play oh it is I think so if not by rule it's definitely been called that way forever yeah forever yeah all right there you go all right bro see yeah