Late Sunday Night, the Tampa Bay Rays traded Blake Snell to the San Diego Padres for prospects. These prospects include Luke Patino, Francisco Mejia, Blake Hunt and Cole Wilcox.
Blake Snell
The 2018 Cy Young Winner, has ranked Top 10 in ERA, strikeout percentage, and opponent batting average over the last 3 seasons. The 28-year-old is headed to the Padres exactly two months to the day of Game 6 of the World Series, in which he threw 5⅓ brilliant innings only to be pulled.
Snell is set to be paid $39 million over the next three years. He joins an already good Padres rotation that includes Lamet, Davies, Paddack and Clevinger when healthy.
Tampa Bay Rays
On Sunday Night, the Rays improved their top farm system acquiring Luke Patino, Francisco Mejia, Blake Hunt and Cole Wilcox.
Luke Patino is a hard throwing right-hander who has one of the best sliders in the minors. Patino is 6’7 and posted a 5.19 ERA, struck out 21 and walked 14 in 17⅓ innings.
Francisco Mejia is a former Top 10 prospect that provides the Rays with much needed catcher help. Mejia, 25, is a switch hitter. The only thing that may not help Mejia is his size, standing at 5’8 and weighing 188 pounds.
Blake Hunt, 20, is a big catcher (6’3, 215 pounds), whose swing has a chance to have him climb prospect rankings quickly.
Cole Wilcox, a pitcher drafted in the third round of the 2020 MLB Draft, has tons of talent and upside. In fact, Wilcox received a $3.3M bonus, which is the highest ever for a third round pick.
Conclusion
Even though losing Blake Snell may seem terrible, the Rays are one of the best when it comes to making trades, especially the ones that include pitchers. These trades include David Price, Chris Archer, and James Shields, trades that looked bad at first, but turned out amazing. The Rays already lost P Charlie Morton, and now lose Blake Snell which hurt the Rays playoff chances. But through this trade, the Rays managed their payroll and added young talent that make up the best farm system in baseball.