As many expected, the National League West wound up being a two-team race between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres this past season.
While the Dodgers stood atop the division standings for most of the year, it wasn’t until the middle of September in which they pulled away with their eighth consecutive NL West title.
The club took two of three from the Padres on Sept. 14-16, and then proceeded to win eight of their final 10 games to close out the regular season.
San Diego, after making a slew of additions at the Aug. 31 trade deadline, still advanced to the postseason for the first time since 2006, but were swept by the Dodgers in the NL Division Series.
After watching L.A. capture their first World Series title in over three decades, the Padres remain committed to closing the gap in the NL West. According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the club has reached an agreement to acquire 2018 American League Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell from the Tampa Bay Rays:
The San Diego Padres are finalizing a trade to acquire former Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell from the Tampa Bay Rays for top pitching prospect Luis Patiño, catchers Francisco Mejia and Blake Hunt, and right-handed pitching prospect Cole Wilcox, sources familiar with the agreement told ESPN on Sunday.
Snell, 28, pitched to a 4-2 record with a 3.24 ERA, 4.35 FIP and 1.20 WHIP in 50 innings this year, striking out 63 batters against 18 walks across 11 starts.
Outside of a rough start against the New York Yankees in the AL Division Series, Snell was mostly dominant during the postseason. He tossed 5.2 shutout innings against the Toronto Blue Jays in the Wild Card round, then posted a 3.00 ERA in the AL Championship Series.
Snell made two starts against the Dodgers in the World Series, allowing three runs on four hits over 10 innings of work. His early removal in Game 6 was a catalyst in L.A.’s rally, as they scored three runs late to come away with a 3-1 win.
With Mike Clevinger expected to miss all of 2021 while recovering from Tommy John surgery, Snell gives the Padres another frontline-caliber pitcher to slot at the top of their starting rotation, joining Dinelson Lamet.
Snell has three more seasons of control left before reaching free agency at the end of the 2023 season, justifying the high cost it took for the Padres to acquire him.
Padres reportedly set to acquire Yu Darvish from Cubs
Less than 24 hours after reaching an agreement to acquire Snell from the Rays, the Padres are believed to remain interested in adding Yu Darvish to their starting rotation in a trade with the Chicago Cubs.
Darvish briefly pitched for the Dodgers in 2017 and was successful up until the World Series, when he failed to get out of the second inning in Game 7 against the Houston Astros.
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