The San Diego Padres have acquired Blake Snell from the Tampa Bay Rays, rounding out a strong rotation and solidifying their status as serious contenders.
Blake Snell is heading to the San Diego Padres.
BREAKING: The Padres have an agreement in place to acquire Blake Snell from the Rays, sources tell @JCTSports, @Ken_Rosenthal and me. Luis Patiño, Francisco Mejía, Blake Hunt and Cole Wilcox would head to Tampa. Deal pending review of medical records.
— Dennis Lin (@dennistlin) December 28, 2020
In the blockbuster trade of the off-season, the Tampa Bay Rays sent Snell to the Padres for a slew of prospects. The headliner, Luis Patino, made his debut in 2020 pitching mostly out of the bullpen.
Snell will join 2020 Cy Young finalist Dinelson Lamet as one of the best frontline rotations in baseball. Beyond that, Chris Paddack is looking for a bounce back season and Zach Davies is coming off one of the best years of his career. And in 2022, Mike Clevinger is expected to return to the rotation.
A three man rotation of Snell, Lamet, and Clevinger in 2022 is going to be absolutely nasty. Round that out with Paddack and a combination of prospects like Mackenzie Gore, Adrian Morejon, and Ryan Weathers, and the Padres could have the best pitching staff in Major League Baseball.
There is zero doubt that they’ll be one of the most exciting teams in baseball in 2021. They could have given the Los Angeles Dodgers a tough series this year had Lamet and Clevinger not been injured just before the playoffs. And they should compete with them again in 2021.
This is a special time to be a San Diego Padres fan. They have the most electric offense in the league led by the most electric player in the league, Fernando Tatis Jr. They have one of the best rotations in baseball that will only get stronger in 2022. They still have one of the strongest farm systems in all of baseball. And they have a front office willing to do whatever it takes to lead their team to its first World Series title in franchise history.
Now would be an excellent time to hop on the Slam Diego bandwagon if you haven’t already.