Fernando Tatis named NL Comeback Player of the Year

Good for him. He truly deserved it.

Here's what they had to say about Tatis in the press release (via David Lennon):

After not playing professionally in 2004 and 2005, Tatis was motivated to attempt a big league comeback by his desire to earn enough money to build a church in his hometown of San Pedro de Macoris, D.R. The road back was a bumpy one as he played in just 28 games with Baltimore in 2006, and found himself in Triple-A New Orleans for all of 2007. Not to be deterred, he excelled in New Orleans, and finished the season with 21 homers, 137 hits and 90 runs scored in 131 games.

His 2007 performance was good enough to earn him a trip to spring training with the New York Mets, but he fell just short of making the big league roster out of camp, winding up back in the Big Easy. However, after just 37 games in New Orleans, he was summoned to the Big Apple in May, and helped the Mets contend for the NL East title by hitting .297, with 11 homers, 47 RBI and 33 runs scored in 92 games.

I was dead-set against bringing in Tatis, giving him any time in spring training, and especially when they called him up. He proved me, and all of his detractors very, very wrong.

I'd like to see Tatis back purely as a bench player. He excelled in that role, and was pretty good as a forced starter. I have a feeling he's penciled in on the bench, as long as they can come to terms on a contract.