Irrespective of the toxicology results, this is huge tragedy for the families involved and for baseball fans. Not only because of the loss of life and loved one but also because he was financially supporting his entire family, who were refugees from Cuba and came to the United States with nothing. Fernandez was arbitration eligible this season, and he would have commanded at least $5M for this season and next before hitting free agency in 2019. As a free agent, he could have probably commanded a long-term contract with an annual salary in the $20M+ range, if he didn't suffer any arm problems before contract signing. That kind of money would have set up his family and his soon-to-be born child and even future generations of his kin for life.
And then there is the point-of-view from baseball fans like myself. Using Bill James similarity scores (courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com), these are the players he was most similar to at the same age:
1. Red Ames (962)
2. Herb Score (955)
3. Tom Seaver (955) *
4. Jim Nash (953)
5. Addie Joss (953) *
6. Roger Clemens (952)
He may have turned out to be another Herb Score, who was an all-star and 20-game winner and led the league in strikeouts at age 23 but then pitched only 381 innings the rest of his career as he battled several injuries (including a comeback liner to his face). But he could have also been another Tom Seaver or Roger Clemens. Not knowing how his career would have evolved is personally the biggest tragedy for me.
|