Fernando Tatis Jr. And The Statue Contract
The Lead
Wondery
3.9 • 2.2K Ratings
🗓️ 25 February 2021
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Last season, San Diego Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. was among the most electric players in all of baseball. Last week, the team signed their emerging star to a massive 14-year, $340 million contract extension. Today, we’re joined by The Athletic’s Dennis Lin to look at how the idea for Tatis Jr.’s deal was inspired by a pair of statues, and the unique bond between player and general manager that helped this contract become a reality.
Read Dennis Lin’s story about Fernando Tatis Jr.: https://theathletic.com/2404908/2021/02/22/padres-fernando-tatis-jr-statue-contract/?source=theleadpodcast
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, prime members, you can listen to the lead ad-free on Amazon Music. Download the app today. |
| 0:12.5 | Last season, Fernando Tatis Jr. was one of the most electric players in all of baseball. |
| 0:20.0 | And Tatis sends it to Lafille, he'll you're going back at the wall! It is God, a home run! Tatis is scored! |
| 0:27.0 | For Fernando Tatis Jr. with two outs in the nine Tatis takes it out of the yard and scores. |
| 0:33.0 | And the Padres have tied it up! |
| 0:36.0 | And last week, the Padres confirmed that the shortstop will be their centerpiece for a very long time. |
| 0:42.0 | Breaking news out of San Diego as reportedly the Padres and Fernando Tatis Jr. are in agreement on a 14-year, $340 million contract extension. |
| 0:51.0 | Today, the Athletics Dennis Lynn on how the idea for Tatis Jr.'s mega deal was inspired by two pieces of art and how the unique bond between shortstop and general manager helped the deal become a reality. |
| 1:03.0 | Fernando just loves playing baseball as much as anyone ever recovered and Paige Epprell probably spends more time working on building a baseball team than any GM I've ever seen. |
| 1:13.0 | I thank Fernando Tatis, he's that recognizes that and sees that they're on the same page in terms of what they want and what they want to get to eventually. |
| 1:25.0 | From Wondery and the Athletic, I'm Anders Keltow. |
| 1:27.0 | And I'm Kavita Davidson. It's Thursday, February 25th, and this is the lead. |
| 1:33.0 | It felt like something great was happening. |
| 1:36.0 | There was just something about the emotion and the fun that they got there for the first time. |
| 1:41.0 | The values of the past don't matter because we've got this now. |
| 1:44.0 | You can't pay, I'm seeing anything like that. |
| 1:46.0 | This isn't a story where you interview the athlete in the home. It stays with you. |
| 1:57.0 | So Dennis, you wrote about a trip that Padres GM, AJ Preller, took to the Dominican Republic. |
| 2:02.0 | Can you tell us why that trip was significant? |
| 2:04.0 | So the first week of January, AJ Preller flew down to the Dominican with two of his assistants. |
| 2:10.0 | I got in the car with Cesar Rizic and Chris Camp, who overseer our international department. |
| 2:14.0 | They drove from Santa Domingo, the capital in the DR to San Pedro de Macares, which is where Tatis lives. |
... |
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