Some deeply sad news out of the Dominican Republic. Yerinson (Jerison) Tatis, an 18-year-old pitching prospect, was recently released by the Kansas City Royals. Indeed, news of his release is coming off the transaction wire as recently as a couple hours ago.
According to a report from Listin Diario out of the Dominican Republic, none of that matters, as Tatis was killed Saturday night at a party, where one other person was killed and others were injured. The report, noted by Stan Croussett on Twitter, contains an unfortunate postscript to the report: Tatis was just a day or two away from signing a $450,000 with the Cubs, according to Listin Diario.
Hearing about an 18-year-old kid losing his life is heart-breaking enough, but to learn that he was on the doorstep of a payday that could have changed his family’s life – the report says that Tatis dreamed of taking his mother out of poverty – is really tough.
The details of the story are still a bit fuzzy, and at least one other report says that Tatis was actually going to sign with the Athletics. I’d not heard about a new international signing like Tatis, and it would be surprising to learn about an out-of-the-blue signee for such a substantial sum (one who had just been released by the Royals), so it’s entirely possible that the Listin Diario report has a minor detail or two (in the grand scheme of things) incorrect.
In any event, whatever team he was going to, and whatever the details on the baseball side, it’s a sad story. Thoughts and prayers to the family.