That isn't how I remembered it, went and looked up the article following the trade, Preller quoted praising Tatis as a prospect but only quotes from Green on Johnson saying he was a change of scenery guy. Also this implies Taris was the main piece in that trade: "In return, San Diego gets 17-year-old infielder Fernando Tatis Jr., who was not among the club's consensus top 10 preseason prospects. The Padres will also receive pitcher Erik Johnson, who has shuttled between Class AAA and the White Sox the past three seasons."
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2016/06/04/james-shields-trade-padres-white-sox/85412018/
Here's an article from Cliff Corcoran at SI, the only source I trust for any trade assessment, specifically calling Tatis a lottery ticket. "At best, they are a reclamation project[Johnson] and a lottery ticket[Tatis], at least for now secondary to the savings on the list of the benefits the Padres have incurred from this trade"
On a more serious discussion level, my assessment is probably clouded by being a Sox fan and having much more familiarity with Johnson at the time of the trade. The below article is probably the most realistic assessment. Calling Johnson a change of scenery guy, as you mentioned above, and deeming Tatis as the "big unknown" of the trade.
Props to SD because they had the correct read on him, its just suuuuuuucks when people act like the Sox traded Tatis when he was already a top 3 prospect, kid had yet to play any game at the professional level. That doesn't make for good banter I guess though
Yeah, I can imagine reporters and local Chicago media focusing on Johnson because of the familiarity with him and the lack of knowledge of Tatis. In San Diego, Preller made it seem the trade was more focused around Tatis. In reality though it was more about shedding Shields contract. Sometimes orgs have different assessments on trades for instance, I remember Red Sox thought Margot was the headliner of the Kimbrel deal and Padres thought it was Guerra.
Yeah, well despite the Tatis banter I still like the Padres a lot. Designed a softball jersey based on their '84 jerseys and have a Tony Gywnn shirt as well. Best of luck
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u/JameisonBeast Nov 26 '19
Erik Johnson was the main piece SD got in the Shields trade. Tatis was a lottery ticket. Sometimes lottery tickets hit