Padres chairman Seidler on Tatis: ‘I believe in him’
PHOENIX — Fernando Tatis Jr. met with his boss, San Diego Padres chairman Peter Seidler, about a week after drawing his steroid-related, industry-rattling suspension. It started off poorly — and Seidler interpreted that as a positive sign.
“I could see in his body language how bad he felt,” Seidler told ESPN in a sit-down interview on Thursday. “Some humans, when this happens, they don’t feel bad. They feel like they’re the victim in some way. Fernando owned it. He felt bad because he knew he let people down. And when we started talking — he loosened up at some points — we talked about how, ‘This is a big one, but people bounce back from these things.’ And I knew he would. I told him that. It was too fresh for him to really form a ton of thoughts, but I could see it. He knew what had happened. And he was going to figure out the best path forward.”
Seidler watched Tatis’ highly anticipated return to baseball up close on Thursday night, while seated directly behind the Padres’ first-base dugout from Chase Field in Phoenix.
Two years earlier, in February of 2021, Seidler rewarded Tatis with a 14-year, $340 million extension, an unprecedented number for someone who at that time was only a month removed from his 22nd birthday. It was widely hailed as a “statue contract,” a clear indication of the space Tatis promised to occupy within the organization’s history. The news conference to celebrate it began with Seidler saying, “It’s a rare chance to wake up the next day after we agreed to the contract and there’s no doubt in your mind.”
The following year provided plenty of reasons to doubt, first with the wrist injury that was caused by an offseason motorcycle accident, then by the positive test for an anabolic steroid just as Tatis was making his return in August, circumstances that forced him to miss all of 2022 and the first 20 games of 2023.
Seidler stressed that he was never angry.
“I think just for me, things like this don’t make me mad,” Seidler said. “People make their own choices in life. I work in a lot of different areas, and men in their 20s tend to make a mistake or two. I haven’t met one who hasn’t — including myself, of course.”
In their initial meeting, Seidler and Tatis spoke about repairing relationships with his teammates, the fans and the front office. They acknowledged the length of that process and talked about taking it one step at a time.
“I was just honest with him,” Seidler said. “And I think vice versa.”
Speaking Thursday, on a night when Tatis ultimately went 0-for-5 but also turned in an acrobatic catch in his new position of right field, Seidler praised Tatis for completing the necessary steps over the course of these past eight months. He addressed his teammates in a players-only meeting, during which he was widely described as being authentic and remorseful. He underwent two critical surgeries — the left shoulder procedure the Padres recommended a year earlier, to address the subluxations that plagued his 2021 season, and a second cleanup of the injured left wrist that robbed him of the first five months of 2022 — and engaged in more open dialogue with the Padres’ front office over the ensuing offseason.
Tatis returned to San Diego for baseball activities in early January, was among the first to arrive at the Padres’ spring training complex the following month and took to the outfield with noticeable vigor, despite harboring aspirations of someday returning to shortstop. It was enough to make Seidler believe Tatis, now 24, was navigating the right path.
“He’s a good dude,” Seidler said of Tatis. “He’s respectful, he’s likable, he cares about people, he loves San Diego. And for him to have let down the people of San Diego, it really hurt him. As it should have. He made a serious and regrettable mistake. Look, we’re all human. We make mistakes. A lot of times it’s if and how you bounce back. You know, he quietly, when nobody was looking, did a lot of things under the radar — getting the first surgery and then the second surgery were big, getting his body ready, getting his mind ready.
“These are things that, on a gut level, I thought he would do. But you never know. He’d never been through something like this before. And for me, fast-forward to tonight — it’s the culmination of a lot of work, a lot of soul-searching, a lot of listening to the people that he does trust and getting good feedback.”
Tatis accumulated 81 home runs, 52 stolen bases, a .965 OPS and 13.6 FanGraphs wins above replacement during his 273 career games from 2019 to 2021. He scored major sponsorship deals with Adidas and Gatorade, graced the cover of the popular video game “MLB: The Show” and was widely considered the next face of baseball. It all collapsed quickly, as a result of his own choices. But Seidler said he is “very optimistic about what’s ahead” for Tatis.
“I trust him,” he added. “I believe in him.”
The first 12-team College Football Playoff is down to the final two contenders: Notre Dame and Ohio State.
The seventh-seeded Fighting Irish and eighth-seeded Buckeyes will meet Jan. 20 at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the CFP National Championship Presented by AT&T. Whichever team wins will end a championship drought. Notre Dame aims for its first title since 1988. Ohio State’s lull isn’t nearly as long, as the Buckeyes won the first CFP championship a decade ago, but given how consistently elite they are, it seems like a while.
Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman and Ohio State’s Ryan Day are also aiming for their first championships as head coaches, and Freeman’s past will be in the spotlight. Freeman and the Irish lost to the Buckeyes and Day in each of the past two seasons. But after a masterful coaching job this season, Freeman now will face his alma mater — he was an All-Big Ten linebacker for Ohio State under coach Jim Tressel — with everything on the line. Day, meanwhile, can secure the loftiest goal for a team that fell short of earlier ones, but never stopped swinging.
Here’s your first look at the championship matchup and what to expect in the ATL. — Adam Rittenberg
When: Jan. 20 at 7:30 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN
What we learned in the semifinal: Notre Dame’s resilience and situational awareness/execution are undeniably its signature traits and could propel the team to a title. The Irish have overcome injuries all season and did so again against Penn State. They also erased two deficits and continued to hold the edge in the “middle eight” — the final four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half — while dominating third down on both sides of the ball. Notre Dame can rely on front men such as quarterback Riley Leonard, running back Jeremiyah Love and linebacker Jack Kiser, but also on backup QB Steve Angeli, wide receiver Jaden Greathouse and kicker Mitch Jeter. These Irish fight, and they’re very hard to knock out.
X factor: Greathouse entered Thursday with moderate numbers — 29 receptions, 359 yards, one touchdown — and had only three total catches for 14 yards in the first two CFP games. But he recorded career highs in both receptions (7) and receiving yards (105) and tied the score on a 54-yard touchdown with 4:38 to play. A Notre Dame offense looking for more from its wide receivers, especially downfield, could lean more on Greathouse, who exceeded his receptions total from the previous five games but might be finding his groove at the perfect time. He also came up huge in the clutch, recording all but six of his receiving yards in the second half.
How Notre Dame wins: The Irish won’t have the talent edge in Atlanta, partly because they’ve lost several stars to season-ending injuries, but they have the right traits to hang with any opponent. Notre Dame needs contributions in all three phases and must continue to sprinkle in downfield passes, an element offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock has pushed. And they finally did start seeing results against Penn State. The Irish likely can’t afford to lose the turnover margin, although they can help themselves by replicating their third-down brilliance — 11 of 17 conversions on offense, 3 of 11 conversions allowed on defense — from the Penn State win. — Rittenberg
What we learned in the semifinal: The Buckeyes have a defense with championship mettle, headlined by senior defensive end Jack Sawyer, who delivered one of the biggest defensive plays in Ohio State history. On fourth-and-goal with just over two minutes remaining, Sawyer sacked Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, forcing a fumble that he scooped up and raced 83 yards for a game-clinching touchdown, propelling Ohio State to the national title game. The Buckeyes weren’t perfect in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, and they struggled offensively for much of the night against a talented Texas defense. But Ohio State showed late why its defense is arguably the best in college football, too.
X factor: The play two snaps before the Sawyer scoop-and-score set the table. On second-and-goal from the Ohio State 1-yard line, unheralded senior safety Lathan Ransom dashed past incoming blockers and dropped Texas running back Quintrevion Wisner for a 7-yard loss. After an incomplete pass, the Longhorns were forced into desperation mode on fourth-and-goal down a touchdown with just over two minutes remaining. All-American safety Caleb Downs, who had an interception on Texas’ ensuing drive, rightfully gets all the headlines for the Ohio State secondary. But the Buckeyes have other veteran standouts such as Ransom throughout their defense.
How Ohio State wins: Texas took away Ohio State’s top offensive playmaker, true freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, who had only one reception for 3 yards on three targets. As the first two playoff games underscored, the Buckeyes offense is at its best when Smith gets the ball early and often. Notre Dame is sure to emulate the Texas blueprint, positioning the defensive backs to challenge Smith. Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly has to counter with a plan that finds ways to get the ball into Smith’s hands, no matter what the Fighting Irish do. — Jake Trotter
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