It was announced by Jeff Passan at 11:16 on December 27th, 2020 that the San Diego Padres would acquire Blake Snell from the Tampa Bay Rays in return for 4 prospects. Let’s look a tad deeper into the return for the Rays and what it means for the Yankees.
The prospect this trade was centered around was Luis Patino. While he did have a 5.19 ERA and a 5.61 FIP in 17.1 innings of work in 2020, it’s important to point out that he is just 21 years of age and still has plenty of room to grow, and we all know how young pitchers develop with the Rays. The Rays also acquired Catcher Francisco Mejia, a former top prospect in all of the MLB, and while his defense isn’t as good as Mike Zunino’s, I do believe that Mejia could be a better hitter than Zunino. Oh, and he’s only 25 years of age. The Rays got Cole Wilcox in return as well who, from what I have heard can possibly be a first-round talent from the 2020 draft. Wilcox was taken in the 3rd round by the Padres. The Rays also acquired a young catcher, Blake Hunt in return. Overall I personally feel like the Rays got a pretty solid return for a 28-year-old starting pitcher.
Now, what does this mean for the Yankees? This means that the Yankees should build the team for right now as the Rays look to be building for a few years down the road. However the Rays will still be a competitive team now. I think the Yankees do the exact opposite of the Rays, build for now, but also build to be a competitive baseball team in the future. The Yankees number 1 priority this off-season should be starting pitching. Yes, I know how much Dj means to this lineup, but we need to find a reliable 2 and 3 starter until Luis Severino comes back. The Yankees can get a guy like Andrelton Simmons, or Marcus Semien, or even Didi Gregorius through free agency to move Gleyber back to second base. I believe if the Yankees do not want to sign a free-agent middle infielder then it becomes key to trade for one, Lindor/Story are the two biggest names that come to mind there. Again this is all my opinion so please if you do not agree with my opinion then please come talk to me about it or post a comment underneath this article.
