TORONTO – If you consider how the Tampa Bay Rays used Blake Snell in Game 6 of the World Series, their decision to trade him to San Diego isn’t surprising at all.
Snell, the 2018 American League Cy Young winner, had nine strikeouts with just one run allowed against the Dodgers in Game 6 only to get pulled after 5.1 innings. When the Rays’ bullpen blew the save and the Dodgers won it all, controversy followed: did the Rays make the right bet only to lose, or did their relentless pursuit of an edge get in the way of common sense?
Two months later, the Rays are again moving on from Snell before they have to, this time in a trade with San Diego. The Padres are reinforcing their status as one of baseball’s most interesting teams by agreeing to acquire Snell for pitcher Luis Patino, catcher Francisco Mejia and prospects Blake Hunt and Cole Wilcox.
With that, Snell joins Chris Paddack, Dinelson Lamet and Mackenzie Gore atop a talented rotation and the Padres become an even bigger threat to the Dodgers. In the AL East, meanwhile, there are significant ramifications, too…
Rays threading the needle
Without Snell and Charlie Morton, the Rays are a worse team in 2021. But there’s upside coming back to Tampa Bay here, and of course, that should be the case in any deal for Snell. While top free-agent starters often earn upwards of $30 million per season, Snell’s set to earn a total of $40.8 million over the next three seasons. That gave him massive trade value.
Patino, who began the 2020 season as Baseball America’s No. 18-ranked prospect, should contribute at the MLB level in 2021. At this point, he’s more raw (96.7 m.p.h. average fastball velocity) than polished (14 walks in 17.1 MLB innings), but he just turned 21. Plus, the addition of Mejia helps considering the Rays’ need for catching depth and the additional prospects bolster an already deep Tampa Bay system.
It might be a soulless move reminiscent of the trades involving David Price and Evan Longoria and Chris Archer. And yes, the Rays will likely project as a worse team in 2021 now. But this move is designed with the long view in mind, and the Rays have won far more trades than they’ve lost. It’ll be at least a year or two before we know where this one ranks, but in the meantime, this team should still be considered a threat to win the American League East.
Many AL East teams now seeking arms
It’s not just the Rays who have a depleted starting rotation right now. All four teams with any chance of advancing out of the AL East are short-handed as well. Consider that…
•Even though they added Michael Wacha, the Rays are without Morton and Snell.
•The Yankees lost Masahiro Tanaka, James Paxton and J.A. Happ to free agency.
• If the season started today, Boston’s third starter might be Tanner Houck or Matt Andriese.
•Though they re-signed Robbie Ray, the Blue Jays must add more starting pitching after losing Taijuan Walker and Matt Shoemaker to free agency.
To this point, this off-season has been moving incredibly slowly, but between now and the start of spring training those four teams will be competing for some of the same arms. And at some point, the action has to pick up, doesn’t it? January has a chance to be as interesting as November and December have been quiet.
What would the Blue Jays’ equivalent offer have been?
It was just last summer that the Blue Jays and Rays completed a trade for Eric Sogard, but that was a minor deal at a time that the Blue Jays were still deep in a rebuild. Completing a trade for a player of Snell’s calibre while both clubs are competitive would surely be more complicated.
With that caveat in mind, what might a comparable offer have looked like from the Blue Jays? Perhaps a top pitching prospect like Simeon Woods Richardson or Alek Manoah would have played the part of Patino while Danny Jansen (25 years old, .668 lifetime OPS, 2.050 years of service time) looks like a fair comp for Mejia (25 years old, .668 lifetime OPS, 2.054 years of service time). Add in two younger prospects and you have a comparable offer.
Does the Snell deal set a precedent for Reds?
Clearly, the Padres paid a significant price here, converting prospect depth into frontline pitching for the second time in four months (deadline acquisition Mike Clevinger underwent Tommy John surgery in November with a view toward a 2022 return). In San Diego, there are presumably more moves to come from GM A.J. Preller, but around baseball, the Snell deal will be a useful reference point.
That may be especially true in Cincinnati, where right-hander Luis Castillo appears to be on the trade block. Castillo, who was born one week and one day after Snell, has similarly impressive stuff and, like Snell, three years of club control remaining. If the Reds do listen on the right-hander, they have every reason to expect a comparable return.
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
