Dodgers Team News

MLB Rumors: Padres Acquire Former Cy Young Winner Blake Snell

From the outside, the San Diego Padres appear to be just a few good arms of seriously contending in the National League West. Their lineup is already primed with young bats and a boatload of MLB talent, but pitching has been one of the main reasons they cannot compete with the Dodgers. 

The latest news coming out of San Diego is that they have acquired a new arm. The Padres reportedly made a deal overnight with the Tampa Bay Rays to acquire LHP Blake Snell. Dodgers fans remember Snell from the World Series where he held Los Angeles to 3 earned runs over 10 innings pitched. Of all arms available around MLB, he might be one of the best



Adding Snell into the mix is huge for the Padres with the state of their rotation. Mike Clevinger underwent Tommy John surgery after trying to pitch through injuries in the 2020 postseason, and Dinelson Lamet might not be 100 percent. Lamet faces some uncertainty as he continues to fight through some biceps issues. Snell makes their rotation one of the best in baseball…in 2022. 

Snell had a good bounceback year with the Rays in 2020 after a disappointing 2019 run. Through 11 starts, Snell pitched to a 3.24 ERA while striking out 11+ per 9 innings. He also saw his walk rate down to where it was when he won the AL Cy Young Award back in 2018, which is a great sign for the Padres. Unfortunately for the Rays, Snell was the guy Kevin Cash pulled early in Game 6 of the World Series. The Dodgers had been shut out until Cash pulled him in the 6th inning. 

The Padres had to give up a few top MLB prospects in the deal, including Luis Patiño(#3), Francisco Mejia, Cole Wilcox(#7), and Blake Hunt(#14). Snell has three years and $40 million remaining on his deal. 

Dodgers Outlook

The Padres getting Snell isn’t the worst thing in the world, but it almost certainly makes them more competitive. The 2020 MLB season played into San Diego’s favor early on, but it was clear that they weren’t built for depth. Mixing Snell in for the next couple of years will allow their younger guys more time to develop as well as allow guys to heal from injuries. But in my mind, they overpaid for Snell. 

Regardless of whether that’s true, I wouldn’t worry as a Dodgers fan. 

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19 Comments

  1. Not only makes them more competitive in regular season, but a very dangerous opponent in short series playoffs.

  2. All the more reason for a big right handed bat at 3B. Either sign LaMehue (sp?), or trade for Bryant…

    1. Gotta do something, a strong back end of the bullpen piece and another right handed bat in addition to JT. Padres lighting fires everywhere again must be met with some kind of corresponding move.

  3. Worry is not the right word, but concern may be. The Padres are aggressive and are on the upswing. We can still outhit and outpitch them, but, this narrows the pitching gap considerably and the only way to match would be to overpay (literally) for Bauer and that’s not a good idea when you’re looking at the bills coming due for Seager, Bellinger and Buehler

  4. Snell definitely makes the Padres more competitive! Dodgers need a top notch reliever. There starters after 3 are unproven and need to step up! Another proven bat might be needed.

  5. The Padres got Snell FOR1 REASON; Dodgers and their lefty heavy lineup. It’s vital now that JT is re-signed along with an additional RHB that hits LHP. Too early to make any predictions but a 9th NL WEST title is far from any lock now.

    1. Completely agree! The Padres just took it to a whole different level with the Snell acquisition. I do not even want to think about what he did to us Game 6 before (thankfully) being pulled out. We definitely need to step up with securing a stellar reliever and a proven RHB or more that hits LHP. If not, things are going to be a lot more challenging for us in 2021.

  6. That right handed bat Friedman said he wanted to get weeks ago just got a little bit more important. I’d look even harder at LeMahieu now.

    1. Concur here, because even with the WS win Dodgers as of now appear vulnerable against the good LHP around the league..one can be sure that in the later innings of close games, teams will bring a LHP to face the likes of Bellinger, Seager, Muncy, Rios. Lux etc.

  7. Blake Snell is no doubt a great left hander starting pitcher good for San Diego but LA Dodgers offense will figure him out because that’s what we do the best no worries here Also The LA Dodgers owned San Diego and we will continued dominating the west division for along time.
    So with that being said: Congratulations to The 2020 World Series Champions LA Dodgers!!!
    “Let’s Do a Repeat in 2021”

    1. I agree they will get better against him over time and beat him as well as get beat, but if he has just one performance like he did in the World Series against us, in a 5 game series that could be the difference and SD will not pull a TB and yank him. If we’re gonna go down it needs to be with us having done everything we possibly could. Need to get LaMahue and maybe something else

  8. If all their starters are healthy we’ll easily get bounced in a 5 game series. The Dodgers need to continue getting better because not every season is the same. If a dynasty is important to them they’ll make some big moves

    1. Correct, Don. 2 RH hitters are FA’S in Turner and Hernandez so Dodgers MUST replace them with RHB for a current lineup that’s left handed heavy and even in the WS showed vulnerability to good LHP..

  9. Great move by the Padres. They needed help in their rotation. They got a strong starter, at a reasonable price, who demonstrated dominance over the Dodgers. They made some great moves last year as well, and built up a farm system that that has provided guys like Tatis and Padack as well as capital to make really smart acquisitions. I still think Machado is overpaid, but every other move has been solid and cost-effective. I’m glad the Dodgers are being challenged. It makes it more interesting.

  10. And, now they’ve gone out and signed the top Korean infielder (Kim), likely to play 2B- their only weak spot in the infield.

    Friedman better answer the bell…!

  11. I think we can look at this in many different ways. We just won a WS everyone wants to defend. We have a lot of options. I will say this though the Pads did not even have Clevenger and were still a
    formidable opponent in the playoffs. Big difference for them next year, and we all saw what Snell did in the playoffs. It is going to be a major battle next year with the Pads addition of Snell. With that said I think we have done a good job with BP additions. For the last few years I think everyone has been talking about adding another dominant arm for the last couple of years. We can talk about price all day if you want the best players 9* out of 10 it’s going to be considered over paying. We could definitely benefit by having a dominant number 2 starter to bridge between our young guys like Urias, May, and Gonsolin. It will be a full season next year. Another dominant arm like Bauer would benefit Kershaw and allow him more rest. We have plenty of assets and prospects that don’t even get to play because of the depth of our team. Time to start using them for our advantage. Option 1
    Option 2 Wait a year, and play Giants baseball to make a big move and make a significant run. We are paying Price and Pollack over 100 mil. Unless we can come up with some kind of trade to dump one of those contracts that is hurting our options especially Price who is opting out again. The only way we are dumping any of those contracts is by trading someone on our team with huge value, and I don’t see that happening. Which leaves prospects. If I can wait a year dump a contract or two and make a cheaper big move on a Bauer or Snell type of pitcher and give myself a better window to contend then trying to make huge moves to defend next year not that we are not of course. More of my point is it’s hard to keep everyone after winning a championship. A-la JT , Kike, Seagar. Either way we all want to win defend and have more championships. Always tough after winning a WS. Heavy competition and rivalry has returned to the NL west , and that’s exciting!

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