Not far removed from their first playoff season since 2006, the Padres have dominated headlines in Major League Baseball over the past couple days. They agreed to sign highly touted Korean infielder Ha-Seong Kim on Monday, and it’s possible they’ll follow it up by acquiring 2020 NL Cy Young finalist Yu Darvish from the Cubs before the day is out. And prior to reeling in Kim (and potentially Darvish), the Padres made a major addition to their rotation when they agreed to land left-hander Blake Snell from the Rays late Sunday night.
In Snell, the Padres are getting a 28-year-old former AL Cy Young winner (2018) who’s due a more-than-reasonable $39MM through 2023. Snell wasn’t able to replicate the numbers from his career season over the past two years, but he was hardly a slouch during that span. In his last season in Tampa Bay, which won the AL pennant, Snell threw 50 innings and put up a 3.24 ERA/4.35 FIP with 11.34 K/9, 3.24 BB/9 and a personal-best 49.2 percent groundball rate, all while continuing to average upward of 95 mph on his fastball. The Padres’ hope is that Snell (and perhaps Darvish, if they’re able to complete that trade) will help replace righty Mike Clevinger – a blockbuster 2020 pickup who will miss all of next season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in November.
Meanwhile, although some may roll their eyes at the small-budget Rays for trading a reasonably priced, high-end starter in the wake of a World Series-bound year, it does appear they’ll receive a significant haul in this swap. The club’s slated to get two promising righties – Luis Patino and Cole Wilcox – as well as a pair of young catchers in Francisco Mejia and Blake Hunt.
The 21-year-old Patino, who made a brief major league debut last season, was Baseball America’s 18th-best prospect entering the campaign; Wilcox was a third-round pick in last summer’s draft, but he was seen as a first-round talent – which led the Padres to give him a record bonus worth $3.3MM; Mejia was a star prospect in his own right in earlier years, though the 25-year-old hasn’t established himself as a quality major leaguer since he debuted in 2017; and Hunt, 22, looks like a top 100-caliber prospect now, per Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs.
All said, this looks like another win-now move for San Diego, which could emerge as a serious championship contender in 2021. On the other hand, in light of this deal, it’s easy to say the Rays will take a step back next year. However, it appears they got an impressive return, and considering the work the Rays’ front office has done with few financial resources, it may be wise to give them the benefit of the doubt.
How would you grade the trade? (Poll links for app users: Padres, Rays)
One betting disc, please!
I have to say as a Dodgers fan I am absolutely ecstatic at how bad the Padres are screwing themselves. Snell is not the final piece for them (he can’t even get past 5 innings), nor will Darvish be that final piece either (Darvish is 35 and will be on the decline, not to mention last yr was the only yr he has been good in ages). However, they are handing out godfather offers like these guys are the final pieces and will bring them a title. I would gladly take a couple years of the Padres being good if it means they mortgage the next 10 years after that where they fall back into being terrible. They are selling all of the prospect capital they worked for so long to create for players who I don’t think are worth all of what they are paying, to attempt to compete in a division that I’m not sold they can even win. Mark my words Pads fans it may look good now but this is just a long term disaster waiting to happen.
I can smell your fear ese
I have to say as a Dodgers fan I am absolutely ecstatic at how bad the Padres are destroying themselves. Snell is not the final piece for them (he can’t even get past 5 innings), nor will Darvish be that final piece either (Darvish is 35 and will be on the decline, not to mention last yr was the only yr he has been good in ages). However, they are handing out godfather offers like these guys are the final pieces and will bring them a title. I would gladly take a couple years of the Padres being good if it means they mortgage the next 10 years after that where they fall back into being terrible. They are selling all of the prospect capital they worked for so long to create for players who I don’t think are worth all of what they are paying, to attempt to compete in a division that I’m not sold they can even win. Mark my words Pads fans it may look good now but this is just a long term disaster waiting to happen
Padres are giving away a lot of good prospects. But when you pay hosmer and Machado. And have a player like tatis. You go for it. That being said….
Clevinger was exactly the healthiest player and had rough mechanics. And the rays know what they are doing.
Padres just didn’t say here take gore let’s do this. But teams slickly picked away some prospects with nice upside.
@YourDreamGM … You realize Clevinger had already had one TJ surgery, right?
Should have been wasn’t.
Huh? 21 year old MacKenzie Gore is the 6th best prospect in MLB according to Baseball America.
The Padres also still have another three consensus top 100 prospects after Gore (20 year old shortstop CJ Abrams, 22 year old catcher Luis Campusano, and 19 year old OF Robert Hassell who was drafted in June). David Weathers’ son, Ryan Weathers, another top ten Padres prospect, is only just 21.
2020 rookie lefty starter Adrian Morejon, age 21, ranked #52 pre-2019 on BA’s ranking,
Oh, and SS Fernando Tatis Jr., is only 21 years old. Ever heard of him? Apparently he’s good. CF Trent Grisham is 24.
The potential 2021-2023 rotation features Morejon, Gore, 24 year old Chris Paddack, 27 year old Zach Davies, 28 year old Dinelson Lamet, 30 year old Mike Clevinger and now also 28 year old former Cy Young award winner Blake Snell?
I learned a long time ago that prospect rankings don’t mean squat.
Remove Zack Davies as he is going to Chicago for Darvish.
Sounds like someone is butt hurt that the boys in blue won’t be repeating in 2021
Lol. Bro you can go look at Yu’s numbers. He had one bad year and has bounced back as probably the best pitcher in the NL last year. And he’s 34.
Snell only goes 3 that is how Rays manage. All their starters go 2 times through lineup. You sound afraid l.
@StrosOver …
Realistically last year doesn’t mean squat. Yu started 12 games, and was very good.
2019: 3.98 ERA
2018: 4.95 in only 8 games due to injury
2017: 3.86
2016: 3.41 in half a season coming back from TJ
2015: out for TJ surgery
Yu is good, but he’s no superstar.
Hilarious all these so called baseball “fans” derive more entertainment from a cheap and unambitious owner than quality on field product. It’s like praising a restaurant for switching from fresh to frozen food and keeping the same prices. “Oh this meal sucks but the owners are making so much money!”
I agree completely. Being good at the mlb level is the only enjoyable part of being an MLB fan. Watching teams over value prospects often doesn’t work.
Sounds like you’re talking about many of my fellow Padre fans. The difference is, they care more about the GM than the any of the players. That always seemed backwards.
I’m glad I’m not a Rays fan. It would drive me insane them trading all the star players as soon as they got expensive. Who on here claims to be a Rays fan and are actually happy with this strategy?
The thing is as head scratching as some trades look, the Rays have some of the best pro scouts in the business and win quite a few of these head scratchers. It’s the players that I would be more concerned about.
By the time the Rays move the player, their best years are behind them; which the Rays enjoyed at Pre-Arb cost.
The Rays then cash the used up over-valued player for affordable assets. Chris Archer was the last example, now Snell.
They did the same to the Royals with James Shields. The difference was that the “throw-in” became great in Wade Davis.
I’m struggling to recall a deal that the Rays came out on the short end.
They came out on the short end in the Myers trade.
I still don’t know why they even let the Nats get involved.
The Rays dumped Myers because of attitude and lack of work ethic. Same reason the Royals shipped him out.
They did… they basically let the Nats get Turner and Joe ross for basically 1st baseman Bauer who had one good year and I haven’t heard of him sense
I love the trade for the Padres since it really gives them a chance to compete against the Dodgers and Braves next year. For the Rays, it doesn’t really make sense why they would trade Blake Snell after going to the World Series this year. I understand that they don’t have a large budget, however Blake Snell is relatively cheap and they should try to compete next year.
See: Rays history.
Selling high, gathering youth for the future. It’s what the Rays do, and why they are successful.
Before you defend the Rays, remember that they just went to the World Series and had the best record in the American League last year. They could have been a contender next year as well, but they lost out on a reasonable contract for Charlie Morton and traded Snell just to save a couple bucks. I understand that they can’t afford to spend like the Dodgers and Yankees, but as an MLB team, they need to spend more than they currently do.
If anyone can find a way to win after trading Snell and declining Morton’s option, it’s the Rays.
dan55: There’s no need to “defend” the Rays for probably selling high on Snell. You stated that “they need to spend more than they currently do”. That’s a subjective opinion. You also stated that “they just went to the World Series”. That’s a fact. They were as good as they were without spending beyond what ownership would allow. Spending money is one thing, overspending is another. The Rays are very good at evaluating talent and have been good at knowing when to hold on to & when to trade their players. It doesn’t work all the time but more times than not it does.
Snell had one great season & one very good postseason in 3 seasons.
Morton had his fastball velocity decline by about 2mph & his 2019 stats made his Rays stats look great.
The Rays were definitely having issues with their catching depth in the minors & by acquiring 2 in this trade to go along with Hernandez the team has addressed that issue.
Granted their 2021 Rotation has more ?s than before this trade but they have Glasnow & Yarbrough to be their top 2 SPs. Wacha, Honeywell, Patina, Richards & Shane M will help round the remaining 2 spots. McKay should be returning at some point also during the season.
Morton at 15 million. He could be great another year. Or he could be average or injured. Rays felt 15 million wasn’t worth the gamble.
Maybe they don’t care for snells personality? Either way they got a great haul. If they wanted to they could get a pitcher of equal talent for less. Maybe they have a prospect ready. I will wait to see what they do. I highly doubt they just punted on the season. They have a plan.
fljay73: I think Shane Mcclanahan will be a pleasant surprise this season.
Lol no
Successful? Hardly. I guess they have been if you count a below .500 franchise record, two WS losses, and 4 first round exits the other years they made the playoffs. Successful if you count consistently being one of the lowest payroll teams in the league year after year but making their owner buckets of money. But I thought successful was winning consistently (majority of their finishes have been either 4th or 5th in the AL East). and winning a World Series. This trade may have netted them some decent young talent, but it puts them further from that ultimate goal. And once these kids from this trade are in the majors and successful, what other talent will be there with them? Adamas? Arozarena? Meadows? Likely they will be traded away as well by then. The sad fact that by letting Morton go and trading Snell, the Rays took their usual path, which will be profitable for Sternberg but frustrating for Rays fans.
This statement is what is wrong with baseball. Success is no longer measured in ws wins. Instead its measured in surplus war and imaginary win totals (pythag wins or various orders). Until tampa shows me they can do more than get swept after getting to a ws every 15 years i dont think they are a success at all.
And the padres are able to add a ridiculous amount of talent w/o letting go of any of their sure thing prospects. The rays instead have literally told their team they are resetting and aren’t committed to winning at all cost. So consequently they won’t win on the field either
I honestly think their is something wrong physically with him. If their isn’t then its an A+ for the Padres and a total head scratcher for Ray’s fans oh wait their aren’t any. It wouldn’t surprise if he gets hurt during the year and then everyone sees why they traded him. Seriously if your a Ray’s fan why. Why cheer for a team that clearly doesn’t care about winning only collecting that competitive balance tax money from the teams that actually want to win.
You really are a spaceball, you know that?
They don’t want to win and were still 7 games better than the yankees in a 60 game season, what’s that say about the yankees?
You do realize that your beloved Yankees finished BEHIND the team that you claim “doesn’t care about winning”,right? So many people talk about how “dominant” Snell was in his last World Series start. If you go back and watch how many times he missed his target, by a decent margin, you’d probably agree that they pulled him at the right time. His #’s were great but his pitching wasn’t.
Rays got AL wild-card in 2019, Snell threw only 107IP. Rays won AL in 2020, Snell threw 50IP. Rays didn’t rely on Snell pitch due to getting playoff spot past two years.
D: what an unimpressive haul for Snell. I guess all teams actually had a chance after all.
Actually an impressive haul. Check back in four years.
Yeah. The rays know how to evaluate prospects. They know what there doing. That’s why I hate when a deal ever happens with them with the Cards. Like Arozarena, why I keep on thinking Liberatore isn’t gonna be that great because otherwise they wouldn’t have dealt him to us, it always makes me worried lol.
cards04: I think the Arozarena/Liberatore trade will be a win/win deal when it’s all said and done.
I’d be worried too.
Agree….a pitcher with command/control issues, a catcher who can’t catch or hit, a backup catcher and a potential #4/5 SP. T Bay could very easily end up getting nothing from this deal.
lol ok. just wait til Patino and Wilcox killing it
Snellzilla, Patino could easily be someone who takes 4 years to develop. He’s 20-21. So by the time he’s 24-25 and starting to kill it you have to trade him. Everyone else is moot in that trade. Thoughts now? lol
Why would you have to trade him then? He would still be renewable or in arb as long as they don’t call him up this year, which won’t happen, so I don’t see your point
Patino has a 60 future command grade on FanGraphs and 55 control grade on Pipeline. Hunt is an excellent fielder who’s put up decent numbers in the minors the last 2 seasons. Wilcox should’ve been a 1st round pick but wasn’t because of his avaiability. He’s ranked in the top 25 draft prospects on Pipeline and top 20 draft prospects n FanGraphs.
Even if you don’t think they’ll amount to anything, I’m sure the Rays could find MLB teams that disagree and would trade for them, should they go that route (they likely won’t do that this quickly), so those players still have value.
tanner829: You don’t follow the minors do you? This is a very good return for Snell. Even though not all Rays trades work out in their favor, most do (or are win/win).
It appears the Rays should have consulted Lee and Tanner first lol.
I am very happy w this return. Hoped for Patino plus one, received even more.
Tanner you only know big name minors that was a good deal for the rays
D for the Rays simply because they shouldnt have traded him given the current state of thwie organization
Agreed. It’s an A or B based on value received, it’s bad when you factor in anything else.
Snell has yet to pitch over 200 innings. No question, he’s a great pitcher; I’m just not sold on the longevity. Patino looks like he could be just as effective (significantly cheaper) plus the additional players on top
the point is they were in a position to compete this year and effectively sabotaged that chance with this move. they may get good value for him, but just like how we justify big trades for rings, you have to knock one that could be what causes you not to win one.
How have they sabotaged their playoff chances? The off-season isn’t over. This frees up money to spread throughout the rest of the diamond. Catching position was a glaring need for TB, I’m not saying Mejia is the next pudge. But, he’s only 25 and played in 120 games. Give him a chance.. Patino is MLB
Patino is not MLB ready – did you even watch him last year? He needs at least another year in the minors to develop his pitches. Mejia is an outfielder, not a catcher, so he won’t help the Rays with their catching situation at all. And the other guys are too young to help them win this year. The Rays should be trying to compete, but instead they trade their best players so that they can stay under their $50 million budget.
The off-season is far from over. Who knows where TB goes from here.. besides the spectators?
Patino is certainly MLB ready. Are you saying Mize and Skubal are not “mlb ready” too? What defines MLB ready?
Mejia is certainly a catcher. Like I said, he might not be JT Realmuto, but give him the opportunity and he could be the catcher everyone in San Diego thought he would be before 2019. Did you say the same about the Clevinger trade too? Looks like it worked well for CLE to me
By MLB ready, I mean that a player is ready to compete at the MLB level. Mize and Skubal are not MLB ready, though they are on a bad team, so they can get opportunities to compete. Patino is not MLB ready, and since the Padres want to compete for a World Series, they can’t afford to give him time to develop. An example of a young MLB ready player would be someone like Sixto Sanchez or Jake Cronenworth. Important to note, this is not a criticism of players, I am just noting that they need more time before they can be effective in MLB.
“Mejia might not be JT Realmuto”. Duh. Aside from his ability to throw out base stealers, he can’t play defense at catcher. His bat is good for a catcher, but it won’t play as well if he moves off the position.
So, your GM says Patino is MLB ready… on a playoff caliber team.. in the NLDS.. but, not you.
Got it.
Why would DET waste a year of their 6 year service (in rebuild mode), if they’re not MLB ready?
Off season is not over. To say they won’t compete now is a bit premature. Still several 5 inning pitchers out there, and TB knows how to use them.
@BobSacamano – I don’t believe you watched Luis Patino last year. I did, and I can guarantee you that the only reason he was called up is because the pandemic canceled the minor league season. He will not be ready for 2021. In regards to him being placed on the playoff roster, I believe he ended up having 2 low-leverage relief appearances. That does not equate to him being MLB ready. I personally believe that Patino will be a good pitcher someday, but he still needs 1-2 years of development for that to happen.
In regards to Detroit, I don’t know what they are doing, but they do need to give Mize and Skubal time to develop, and the lack of a minor league season is a good reason to call them up. Detroit is a garbage team, so it didn’t hurt them.
Idk, I’ll agree to disagree. I believe Preller moved him up because he thought it was the best move for the team moving forward; not specifically to work towards Patino’s development. There’s instructional leagues and various other options to work on a player’s development other than crushing them and prematurely moving them up in the ML, among other things the playoffs. Even during the 2020 pandemic season. Albeit, each organization is different.
Uh, no. Last year, there were no minor leagues or competition beyond intra-squad games. Preller never said “Patiño is ready.” Not once. The relaxed roster rules due to Covid enabled Preller to contine his trend of “tryouts in the big leagues,” in spite of trying to win. Patiño is definitely not ready. Did you see the way Preller/Tingler managed the pitching staff last year? 9-10 pitchers per game won’t cut it in a regular season. They didn’t win because of pitching.
“This frees up money to spread throughout the rest of the diamond.” That’s funny. Snell was on a reasonable contract and they still got rid of him. The only money this frees up is going right into cheapskate stu’s pocket, never to be seen or heard from again.
Haha okay, I get the fact you don’t believe he’s ML ready. You believe, just because you play in the NLDS doesn’t mean you’re necessarily ready.. where I do. The stage doesn’t get much bigger than that IMO.
radio.com/973thefansd/sports/san-diego-padres/aj-p…
It didn’t sound like he was being demoted
Apparently what you call reasonable, and what other’s call reasonable is different.. 2021 is all but certain. It’s almost like you guys think this isn’t ran like a business. CLE won the Clevinger trade, why can’t TB win this one?
Estimated team revenue 2019-
TBR- $264m
SD- $299
When TB is earning the same as SD I can see the justifications of backlash. But, TB is doing nothing immoral or wrong. They’re just embarrassing most teams on and off the diamond. The spending power they have to the top tiers is flat out embarrassment.
What would you expect him to say? Were you born yesterday? Remember what he said about Bryan Mitchell? You want more examples?
Lol right, because he has so much to gain or lose by telling the truth. Instead, he bamboozles us.. for what?? To save face?
I have no idea how Bryan Mitchell relates to this, or what he said.
Do I have to spell it out for you? No GM is going to make a player move and NOT say good things about him. And I thought Preller was dumb …
Preller never said Patino was ready?? and yet he called him up in 2020 lol. That literally happened.
No GM is going to make a player move and NOT say good things about him. And I thought Preller was dumb …
WTH are you talking about? And what does this have to do with Patino being called up in 2020/not ml ready/Preller not saying he’s ml ready/yet he’s playing in ml/and then in the playoffs Classy put-down though.
That’s correct. Preller never said that. And you don’t know much about how Preller has managed his roster over the last few years, do you?
He didn’t have to say it..he literally promoted him, himself. Who do you think makes these decisions? Well I don’t know a lot about Preller.. but, i know when he believes a player is Ml ready he promotes him. And if Preller believes he incompetent at ML level, he’ won’t put him in the NLWC or NLDS
You seriously haven’t followed the Padres during the Preller regime. If it makes you feel better to think that Patiño is ML-ready just because you think Preller does, get back to me in mid-June.
I promise I will forget this conversation by tomorrow. Either way, enjoy your time watching Snell. It made a lot of sense on both sides of the diamond
The Padres brought in well over $400M in revenues in 2019. Not sure where you are getting those numbers from. Remember that team payroll makes up less than 50% of a teams total annual expenses. In Tampa’s case, payroll only makes up about 20-25% of their total expenses.
statista.com/statistics/193645/revenue-of-major-le…
As a season ticket holder since the devil ray days, I gave them an F for this very reason. Stu sternberg could care less about a winner, but publicly he’d say otherwise, and more about saving money on payroll while receiving checks from the big boys(which I’m sure he’s up in arms about seeing as he got none last year and will get none this year).He has done nothing but complain from day one even though he knew what he was buying. Do you think he’d go back and not buy them, of course not. He even banned tailgating at one point so fans had to go into the stadium to buy concessions. At that time there was one bar/restaurant near the stadium, fergs, that was your only alternative. He wants a new stadium he doesn’t have to pay for, wait 3-4 years and then sell. Dude was on wall street for a reason and that is his only agenda…
If he could care less about winning he wouldn’t sign free agents. Wouldn’t spend money internationally. Wouldn’t spend on his scouting and development. Wouldn’t extend players. Etc etc etc. Worst comment I have seen in a long time on here. That’s says something.
Fans don’t attend games no matter how good the team is. He could just put out a trash even cheaper product and enjoy his revenue sharing. Guy really cares about winning.
You are absolutely right, you’ve swayed me, guy really cares about winning. Because he spends some money on operations and signs an occasional free agent, he does care. He’s worth 800 mil or so, im glad he is doing something worthwhile with his cash as a major league baseball owner. I’ll start to worry then when the players drafted one year are on the MLB roster the following year cuz we got rid of our minor league teams.
Look im not saying he needs to break the bank but his track record says otherwise as far as spending is concerned. It’s rather disheartening to see a team that close and then subtract and not add. I think the rays got great players in return but nothing that helps immediately this year. I like the rays methods to a point but winning a ring and just feeling good about your season are 2 different things. You need players like Morton and Snell. The Padres have a great young core and what they are doing is the opposite, using their prospect capital(which the rays have as well) to gain the veteran established players they need to complement the core. Also the Padres have not hesitated to promote young guys, rays much less aggressive…
You probably said that one time about Odorizzi, Archer, Price, Moore, Cobb too. Just have faith in the process. Most would be thrilled to have an organization as well ran as the Rays. DET tried outspending the top tiers, w/ a heck of a FA class, and where did that leave them? In a disaster of a rebuild.. and no ring to show.
Rays killed it as usual – two stud pitching prospects wow. Patino compared to Sixto and Wilcox college pitcher who signed for a record $3mm in the 3rd round wow. Then throw in two defensive catchers who will certainly play on this team part time at worst. Can’t beat that trade. Rays maximizing value keeping players age 22-28 is the system gets the most wins for the buck. Great job rays
Mejia is NOT a good defensive catcher.
Actually, Mejia isn’t much behind the plate. Defense is not his forte.
Mejia seems like the prototypical Rays guy. A player that has struggled in his short time in the mlb. He seems like a guy that will go there and they will turn him around like other guys that don’t seem to have a ton of value.
Exactly. I would just tell him the path you are heading down is being non tendered and out of baseball. If you work your tail off and do what we say you will be set for life.
Damn guess imma have to change my username. But overall, I don’t mind the trade as a Rays fan. Patino will be ace-like and head that rotation in a years time, the bullpen is still overpowered, and the offense is still fine with the chance to get better with Wander, Randy, and Vidal on the way. We’ll be back in the world series
you and BellTolls can make a support list for those forced to change their names
I just had to change the verb tense.
He’s going to have to become a Padres fan.
snellyalater
youre welcome.
Brilliant
Snelly cat snelly cat why are they trading you? Snelly cat Snelly cat it’s not your fault.
They always say the Rays lost the trade on trade day. The Rays always win the trade in the long run.
and let it be known, anyone saying the Rays will without a doubt win the trade because “they always do” is drinking the kool aid.
But …. they do.
You and the Kool-Aid form a symbiont circle. What happens to one of you will affect the other. You must understand this
But its tasty koolaid.
I’d say the only difference between flavor aid and kool aid is OH YEAH!!!
As a Padre fan, I love this trade! We get him w/o surrendering our top 2 prospects, Mackenzie Gore or AJ Abrams.
Patino is potentially the biggest loss, as he could be stellar one day, as a #2 or ace. But when you have the chance to get an already-established ace, you do it.
Mejia has potential, but not as an everyday catcher; it’s notable that both the Indians and Padres have already given up on him in that capacity. His path to stardom is through his bat, but he has yet to deliver over a full season.
The other guys are young, so they won’t have an impact for at least 3 years.
that SD probably will get three ace-caliber SP while still having a solid group of top Minors talent is quite impressive. props to Preller.
If you’re expecting Blake Snell to be an ace, you’re probably going to be disappointed. He’s a good pitcher, but not that good.
He’s also the ugliest man to grace the diamond since willie McGee
Just as I read this dan plesac said he is a ace.
You know, I gotta say, this is tough in my opinion.
Over the long term: Rays win this trade no doubt.
Over the short term: I gotta say Padres. They’ll be able to get a couple of solid years out of Snell, I’d say until Morejon and Gore develop further. Some pretty deep postseason runs in the future.
… I think I smell a replica of the Giants franchise of the early 2010’s.
I’d give both a B. Rays get a solid group of prospects and Mejia who I still believe has untapped potential. The Rays got Snell for 3 years. And with them likely getting Darvishh, I gotta ask. Where are they getting this money from?
Maybe by sending Myers to the Cubs.
Lol @ thinking anyone would take Myers
It appears as though even if teams didn’t make as much money or broke even, that billionaires are still capable of adding tens of millions to a payroll.
I know a lot of fellas would prefer a faster moving off-season pace. (I get it…NFL free agency is maybe a week or so.)
However, I’m finding this actually pretty interesting. It hasn’t been too hard to keep track of everything.
& it’s a mad high stakes poker game, man. There are folks that actually *watch* other people play poker.
Anyway, I have it as a good trade for both. San Diego gave up a lot…but TB gave up Snell. Good all around trade.
NFL free agency is in March……
Yes.
It is.
No matter what month it occurs, it’s a much faster pace than MLB.
But in the Latin alphabet, ” Jehovah” begins with an “I”
the NFL always has a solid ammount of guys who are forced to sign really late. there is more early action, but more late action too. MLB free agency is more spread out.
It got off to a slow start but now it’s moving to fast. Bell was great, but could of had another day of enjoying that news, then instead of just being a done deal, we could if had some Snell rumors. The Mets Jay’s fans could of talked about what low level prospects they were going to give away and get Snell. How great a rotation of degrom Baur Snell would be. Then the trade. Then 2 days later Yu rumors. Then Yu trade. Then 2 days later Musgrove. Then jt etc. Like last year the 3 biggest free agents in like 3 straight days. We got months of time to kill here teams.
I am hardly qualified to grade this trade. I will however still skew the results with my votes.
C for padres. They gave up the haul it took to get Snell. They paid the price, so just average. Now if Snell is great for 3 years and the prospects don’t amount to anything special then it becomes a A for sure.
A for rays. They got a great haul and cut salary. And maybe got rid of a guy they didn’t care for personality wise. If they wanted to replace him they could and still have prospects to spare.
Ive never heard a bad word about Snell’s personality. No, with the Rays it comes down to one thing and one thing only: money. Cheapest team in the game who don’t come under the same microscope as the Pirates because they win, but there is no real reason for them to trade Snell other than the owners being cheapskates in a game where you will never, ever win a ring by being cheap.
Didn’t you know? Nowadays you can just make stuff up out of thin air to fit your narrative.
apparently wanting to get the money you are contractually obligated to get is villainous and you’re only allowed to be outspoken if your name is Trevor Bauer.
I never have either but I don’t know anybody in tampa that would know. Just that it happens and is a possibility.
It’s not about money or being cheap. They sign free agents and extend players just like everyone else. They could have traded him sooner and got more. This was a decision they felt benefited them.
So the poll results say most everyone gave both teams either a A or a B. Fair trade both sides.
Tough to grade without understanding where the teams are. SD wants to win…today. In Tampa, quite frankly, it doesn’t matter much if you win or lose; it only matters that the payroll is low.
Now you can legitimately argue they do that quite well; no one doubts it. But win or lose, attendance will stay the same, TV ratings will stay the same, no doubt other revenue factors will stay the same. The old age MLB formula that “if you win, they will come”, just doesn’t apply in TB.
Win in Baltimore and Pittsburgh, one to one and half million more fans will show up. Win in TB, and all that happens is the payroll goes up.
In that sense, both teams get an A. And really, it looks fair. I know all the SD fans are convinced they gave up 4 HOFers, but the reality they may have given up absolutely nothing. But the players are cheap; all that counts from TB’s point of view.
And I know TB fans think it’s the end of the world as we know it. But Snell has his warts. And 39 million is a lot of millions.
Great input bob. When I get my promotion to YourDreamPresident you are on top of my list of potential gms. Very few people factor in the marketing and pr.
B on both sides. I can’t wait for the Rays to split their time in Montreal. The Raypos will be very entertaining to watch in 5 years.
Will their mascot be called Statutory Amos?
Seems like a good deal. But if I’m a rays fan, I’d rather just keep snell … idk
It probably wasn’t about improving the team. More like keeping the payroll low. That’s also why they ditched Charlie Morton.
No wonder my team didn’t get this guy, that’s quite the haul. Totally get it and i’m fine with it, good luck for all involved, looks like a win, win.
When Rays traded Longoria, Boxberger, Odorizzi , Souza, Dickerson, Colome, Span, Archer, most people says “Tanking!”. But they won 90 in 2018 and got playoff spot past two years. Their transactions is surely affected by budget but more than that they are excellent.
This narrative that snell is only a 5 inning pitcher is really flawed.. if anything, it’s more the TB philosophy, at least last year (look at Morton’s game logs)… for example w snell, he had 3 games (8/12,8/30,9/17) where he went 5, 5, 5.1 innings, and 70,75,73 pitches… gave up 0r, 2r, 1r… they pulled him each time… that’s on them, just like the last game of the WS where they mismanaged it
For the record, in his career, his era innings 1-3 is 2.90, inn 4-6 3.82, inn 7-9 2.14
If he’s healthy, he’ll do well in SD
I appreciate stats but when you are able to go 7 to 9 you aren’t walking people so the era is going to be low. And when he gets that 7th inning it may be because it’s the bottom of the order or vs a weak team. Need to dig deeper.
Dig deeper? That was a totally illogical, nonsensical rebuttal. I’ve seen better dodges on an elementary school playground.
Okay, the only inning he has a career era over 4 is the 5th… 4.21 in 81.1 ip… in the 6th it’s 3.38 in 50.2 ip… 3.71 in the 4th in about 89ip… so second time through order some trouble, but nothing major
19 QS in 31 starts in 2018, 10 out of 20 in 2019… he’s not just a 5 inning pitcher
For TB in 2020… Morton ZERO QS out of 9 starts… glasnow 3 out of 11… clearly it was an org philosophy last year, so can we stop the nonsense… SD got a damn good sp
as a Twin fan i hated it… i was hoping the twins would actually show some initiative and go for it.. just once in my remaining years… I was asking for Snell when they pulled him from the Series game… you know i have found you can’t win if you don’t try.. trying and failing is a part of winning… playing the sure thing card is waiting for you to be lucky… there are no sure things in baseball.. prospects are suspects until proven in the MLB… trade them and take a chance.. spend the money the good fans and the good public gives you with those publicly funded stadiums… that should feel like a duty… winning isn’t everything.. but trying to win is…
I wouldn’t want to beat that price paid if I was another team.
people over rate prospects all the time.. most of them are failures.. 75% of them.. The twins could have given up Garver ( and that fulfilled the rays biggest need)… and a prospect or so… and been the better for it.. after 18 straight post season losses… Pitching is the name of the game.. the Twins don’t have enough to compete in the post season… History proves that..
History proves the Twins don’t hit in the postseason. They struggle to get two maybe three runs per game. They need a whole rotation of aces if they keep getting the run production they have the last 15 years (or more)
in the post season you face better pitchers.. if you want to be a World series team.. Pitching has to be at the core.. unless you plan to slug your way to victory.. and as history shows… bet on pitching…
Twins can hit up the reds or pirates. Will cost them less, unless the padres still want more pitching.
they don’t need bodies… that has been their modus operandi for decades.. they need quality.. and for that you generally pay unless you can draft and develop it.. and they haven’t shown that at all.. not the new regime or the old regime.. so if they want top notch pitching they will need to spend prospect or money.. they have plenty of both..
It seems people are remembering the name Snell for what he was and not what he currently is. I saw this trade and immediately thought the Rays fleeced the Padres. Snell is not healthy, and not what he once was. The Rays are going to get multiple major league contributors for years to come, and cost controlled. I think Padres fans are going to regret this trade sooner rather than later, but it does help their team now. If they win a title in 2021, this trade may very well be seen as worth the price. But I don’t see Snell putting this team over the top. Now Darvish talks? Yikes. Sounds like all the progress they made over the years is about to get sacraficed in a single week for older guys with inconsistent results. Not good.
Fleeced is a strong word. I would call it a healthy haul. It’s really a 3 player lose for padres. The padres couldn’t do much with the catcher, if rays can then good for them. If he turns into a all star and the other 3 don’t the padres will be thrilled.
From the Rays standpoint, I gave it an F. Not for the return, but for the fact that the trade, along with letting Morton go, puts them further away from contending for a World Series, not closer. This team was so close to winning it all this year, and should have been a team that was looking to add talent to put it over the hump. Not even expensive talent, just a key piece or two. And yet they subtracted. True, there is enough still on the Rays that they should be a decent team. But as far as making another WS appearance, well the odds of that just got a lot longer.
I’m sorry I’m late, I had to attend the reading of a
will. I had to stay till the very end, and I found out I received nothing…broke my arm
.
Rays aren’t done yet. They can easily replace snell and Morton for less money. Maybe they already have internally.
I keep hearing how good Francisco Mejia is but his stats suck and each time I’ve watched him play he doesn’t really do much.
He is a project. They wanted him for his potential, not what he currently is. He is the least valuable piece of this trade.
Some folks love Mejia because he was a “top prospect.” That’s really it. Some folks prefer the potential of a prospect more than the reality of a big league player. They’re in a constant state of wishful thinking.
However – Mejia is still a prospect. A good one.
tigerdoc616: The Rays have had 9 winning seasons in the last 13 yrs. That’s a pretty good stretch, not great but pretty good. Granted they had a losing record the first 10 yrs of their existence.
I’ve been a rays fan my whole 27 years of life. It took me a while to accept the fact we will never have a star his whole career, especially once we traded Longoria. However, I’ve learned to accept the fact that this organization knows what its doing. Snell hasn’t been the same guy since his 2018 cy young season. Outside of his world series game 6 start, he’s been an above average SP (not an ace) whose injury prone. I’m so over the 5 innings if he was that dominant it would’ve even crossed Cash’s mind to pull him. Regardless we never spend and this season really hurt us even going to WS. But The future is bright in Tampa. I wish Blake the best and hope he lives up to his unbelievably high ceiling hes been a great Ray. Even he knew his time was eventually going to come to an end. Theres a method to their madness and they’ve been one of most successful franchises since 08. It’s definitely taken some time to accept their ways but more often than not they’re right with a some misses as well. Only the rays can be the rays. Its bizarre, uncomfortable at times but also beautiful all at once. Hard to describe, bard to watch at times but somehow always find a way to win. We’re not going anywhere. Rays up baby.
Rays are doing great. If only they had a nice ballpark. But save some money, enjoy them on big screen TV or outside with a giant projector screen. Go take vacations to see them in the road. Small market teams are fun. They have only won one world series since free agency got huge, but I think that will change. I grew up fan of large market team and for me that is boring. I am a rays indians pirates fan now.
Keep a long term star player for me is a team friendly extension that locks them up for their prime years. I have no desire to pay a guy 30 million a year until he is 40.
Not sure why payroll is such a focus all the time. How do you argue with going to Gm 7 of the WS. Rays have a system that works. Most of us would love to have their FO. Their ability to draft/develop pitching & get the most out of their offense without Star players. The “team” concept seems to work there.
Since I’m not from the Tampa area & haven’t been to the Trop, if Rays fans had a new stadium in an attractive, easy to access location, would attendance be strong?
Would it just be another Marlins Park?
Just a destination site for opposing teams fans?
Over 12,000 votes! But why did 618 voters skip on the Rays poll?
(yes, I have no life…..)
Sometime in the late 2000’s when Tampa started making it happen, I looked at their roster moves one off-season. They lost like 5 or 6 relievers, Grant Balfour was in that bunch. They replaced them with middle of the road whoevers. I had them in 4th place that year on that alone. Flash forward to the end of the year, Balfour and some of those others that the Rays rode hard, all got hurt on their other teams. Rays pen was fine. I know the front office people have turned over, but if the Rays trade someone like Snell, they have his replacement or his production’s replacement lined up already.
I gave an A for both. The Rays can get the most out of Patino and, unlike the Cubs, actually got some top 10 prospects from the SD farm. They also addressed their need at C. Even though I’m not a fan (as a White Sox fan, I should be thrilled that they made themselves worse in the short-term), I hate to see them go to the WS, then let 40% of their starting rotation go because they’re cheap. I think they should have kept both of them, then splurged on Nelson Cruz to boost their offense. But for the direction they’re headed, I doubt they would have found a better offer for Snell. The A for the Padres is more obvious. Strong rotation in 2021 and should be even better in 2022 when Clevinger comes back.