SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The Padres plan to walk into the 2021 season with a World Series pitcher on the roster, trading for Tampa Bay Rays ace Blake Snell.
The deal, reported by The Athletic and ESPN, would see Snell head to San Diego in exchange for top pitching prospect Luis Patiño, catcher Francisco Mejía, pitcher Cole Wilcox, and catcher Blake Hunt.
The deal will be finalized pending a medical review, the outlets report.
The addition of Snell to San Diego will help the team build a formidable starting pitching rotation heading into 2021, after adding Cleveland ace Mike Clevinger last season. Other Padres pitchers Dinelson Lamet, Chris Paddack, Zach Davies, and MacKenzie Gore also add strong arms to the mix.
Snell, 28, went 4-2 with a 3.24 ERA in 11 starts in 2020, including a strong final appearance in Game 6 of the 2020 World Series allowing only two hits and one run with nine strikeouts in 5.1 innings.
He went 2-2 with a 3.03 ERA in six starts during the 2020 playoffs. In 2018, Snell won the American League Cy Young Award with a 21-5 record and a 1.89 ERA.
The Padres would see 21-year-old Patiño head to Tampa Bay. The pitching prospect debuted for San Diego last season, appearing in 11 games and starting one. Though he struggled through 2020 at the MLB level, he had a 2.35 ERA and struck out 279 batters across three seasons in the minor leagues, including two starts at the Double-A level.
Mejía has posted a .229 batting average in 116 games over three seasons for San Diego.
