MLB Weekly Digest January 4th Edition: Padres Acquire Snell And Darvish

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The last week in MLB was about a team in the National League making significant upgrades to their starting rotation and signing an infielder to a multi-year contract. Multiple teams are interested in a relief pitcher.

San Diego Padres Acquire Starting Pitchers Blake Snell And Yu Darvish

The San Diego Padres made extreme waves last week when they acquired not one but two ace starting pitchers last week in Blake Snell from the Tampa Bay Rays and Yu Darvish from the Chicago Cubs.

The #Padres have acquired Blake Snell from the Tampa Bay Rays.

Details: https://t.co/sLZmWq89IY pic.twitter.com/e3i3gc4DSj

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) December 29, 2020

Welcome to San Diego, @faridyu!

ダルビッシュさん、サンディエゴパドレスへようこそ pic.twitter.com/Z1tkDdzZuz

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) December 30, 2020

The Padres sent the Rays catchers Francisco Mejia and Blake Hunt, and right-handed pitchers Luis Patino and Cole Wilcox, per Dennis Lin of The Athletic.

BREAKING: The Padres have an agreement in place to acquire Blake Snell from the Rays, sources tell @JCTSports, @Ken_Rosenthal and me. Luis Patiño, Francisco Mejía, Blake Hunt and Cole Wilcox would head to Tampa. Deal pending review of medical records.

— Dennis Lin (@dennistlin) December 28, 2020

The other major deal the Padres made involved receiving Darvish, catcher Victor Caratini, and cash considerations from the Cubs.

The #Padres have acquired Yu Darvish and Victor Caratini from the Chicago Cubs.

Details: https://t.co/PiENs532Fg pic.twitter.com/cp56BHkZzi

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) December 30, 2020

They sent the Cubs right-handed pitcher Zach Davies and four prospects.

The prospects they sent to Chicago are shortstops Reginald Preciado and Yeison Santana and outfielders Owen Caissie and Ismael Mena, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com.

Cubs-Padres deal will be Yu Darvish and Victor Caratini to SD for Zach Davies, SS Reginald Preciado, OF Owen Caissie, OF Ismael Mena and SS Yeison Santana, per source.

— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) December 29, 2020

Snell’s addition is terrific as they add an ace to the staff who not only pitched well during the regular season but remained consistent in the playoffs.

Snell posted a 3.24 ERA in 50 innings (11 starts) with 63 strikeouts, and 10 home runs yielded in the regular season.

He compiled a 3.03 ERA across 29 2/3 innings pitched (six postseason starts) in the playoffs.

Snell is under team control for the next three seasons and will make $39 million within that period.

The multiple years of control are the reason why the Padres had to include Patino in the deal.

The young flamethrower was one of the better pitching prospects in the Padres farm system.

Wilcox, who the Rays also received in the deal, has yet to pitch in the minors.

The Padres selected him in the third round of the 2020 draft, and I’m confident the Rays will develop him into a pitcher that pays dividends in the future.

The Rays received solid talent in the deal for Snell, per Jeff Passan of ESPN.

Tampa Bay's return:

Luis Patiño: Sits 97, T100, wipeout slider

Francisco Mejia: Buying low on a former top 10 prospect at a position of need

Cole Wilcox: Got $3.3M this year as a third rounder with clear first-round talent and upside

Blake Hunt: See below. https://t.co/h7dIhlf8SE

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 28, 2020

The Rays moving Snell is not a surprise considering how they run their team and operate with a low payroll.

They probably will not be as good as last year’s team, but they will be competitive.

The Padres will also have Darvish under control for three years.

The Cubs did send the Padres $3 million as part of the trade, per Gordon Wittenmyer of NBC Sports Chicago.

Darvish trade official.

Darvish, Caratini and $3 million cash to SD for

Davies and minor-leaguers Preciado, Santana, Caissie and Mena.

— Gordon Wittenmyer (@GDubMLB) December 30, 2020

The Padres will be responsible for the remaining $59 million left on his contract.

Darvish finished second in the National League Cy Young voting last year as he posted an 8-3 record with a 2.01 ERA, 2.23 FIP, 0.96 WHIP in 76 innings.

The right-hander is a four-time All-Star who has averaged 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings.

The Padres will have one of the better starting rotations in the NL next year, with Darvish, Snell, Dinelson Lamet, Chris Paddack, and possibly Adrian Morejon or MacKenzie Gore will be the fifth starter.

Next year, they will hopefully have starting pitcher Mike Clevinger healthy as he is recovering from Tommy John surgery.

The move to get both starting pitchers sets the Padres to have success in the present and future.

They have at least a three-year window to challenge the Dodgers for NL West supremacy.

The impressive part of both deals is they did not have to give up any of their top prospects, and this includes Gore, who is regarded as one of the best pitching prospects in MLB.

The Padres have a deep farm system, and it was utilized to acquire Snell and Darvish.

San Diego Padres Sign Infielder Ha-Seong Kim to Four-Year Deal

Welcome to San Diego, Ha-Seong Kim!

김하성 선수
샌디에이고에 오신 것을 환영합니다 pic.twitter.com/wqOcwcDm9q

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) January 1, 2021

Brown and gold is going to look great on you, Ha-Seong Kim! pic.twitter.com/5PsNlZzfKV

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) January 1, 2021

Take a look at @Padres newest INF, Ha-Seong Kim 👀

(via @CespedesBBQ)pic.twitter.com/YGeGWOiETa

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) December 28, 2020

The San Diego Padres have agreed to a deal with Korean infielder Ha-Seong Kim, per Dennis Lin of The Athletic.

The Padres have reached an agreement with Ha-seong Kim, a source tells The Athletic.

— Dennis Lin (@dennistlin) December 28, 2020

The contract is worth $25 million over four years, per Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Kim is a career .294 hitter with 133 home runs across seven seasons in the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO).

He hit a career-high 30 home runs in 138 games last year.

Kim has played at shortstop and third base the past several seasons.

The Padres plan to have him play at second base, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

Agreement in place. Again, heard that #Padres plan is Kim at second base with Cronenworth likely replacing Profar in LF. But with the way Preller is wheeling/dealing, let’s stay tuned for who is in future deals and what it all looks like whenever we have a 2021 Opening Day. https://t.co/Y78Tj9Epka

— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) December 28, 2020

If Kim can replicate the success he achieved at the plate in Korea with the Padres, they will find a way to get his bat into the everyday lineup.

The signing of Kim can be a good move by the Padres, considering his track record over several years in the KBO.

Houston Astros, Chicago White Sox Among Teams Eyeing Reliever Alex Colome

The Houston Astros and Chicago White Sox are among the MLB teams interested in free-agent reliever Alex Colome, per Robert Murray of FanSided.

The White Sox have also stayed in touch with Colome. https://t.co/8clNhmEQ64

— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) January 2, 2021

Colome has spent the last two years with the White Sox and performed great within that time frame by compiling a 2.27 ERA with 42 saves in 83 games.

The right-hander was superb in the shortened 2020 season.

He posted a minuscule 0.81 ERA in 22 1/3 innings pitched (21 games) with 16 strikeouts, zero home runs surrendered, and a 0.94 WHIP.

The market for Colome will develop once other free-agent relievers such as Liam Hendriks and Brad Hand sign deals.

About Post Author

Chris Lacey

Chris is a New Jersey native whose favorite sports team is the Arizona Diamondbacks. He previously attended Western New England College to study Sports Management. Chris has been following the Diamondbacks since he was 12. You can find him on Twitter at @aecanada12.

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