The San Diego Padres have had a highly disappointing season, taking a 48-52 record into Monday. After entering the season as the National League West favorites—depending on who you ask—the Padres find themselves 1o games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers and 6.0 games back in a crowded NL Wild Card race.
While the Padres don’t exactly have an astronomical hole to climb out of in the NL West race, it seems likely that the team will sell off pieces that are set to be free agents after the season. One of those players is left-handed starting pitcher Blake Snell, who could be among the top names that are dealt come Aug. 1.
As per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, the Padres are likely to shop the 30-year-old Snell, barring a “sudden and dramatic winning streak.” Here’s more from Nightengale, who delivered a lot of nuggets in his notebook, which outlined the 10 biggest questions entering next week’s trade deadline.
They should swallow their pride and trade All-Star outfielder Juan Soto, getting back at least some of the value in the prospects they traded away in the first place to land him from the Washington Nationals. Yet, there has been no hint that he’s available. They instead are likely to shop All-Star closer Josh Hader and starter Blake Snell, barring a sudden and dramatic winning streak.
It’s a bit ironic that Snell could reportedly be shopped, as earlier this week, he said that he feels like the Padres, who are four games shy of .500, are going to be buyers.
“I think we’re buying. That’s what I feel like,” Snell said Thursday, according to The Athletic.
That certainly could be the case, but the Padres are going to at least do their due diligence on the Snell trade front, considering he’s set to become a free agent after the 2023 season.
While he walked seven batters in his most recent start, Snell is starting to finally blossom into the pitcher that he was in Tampa Bay. Over his last 10 starts, which dates back to May 31,0Opposing hitters are slashing just .162/.270/.203 with a .473 OPS over that same time frame.
Just because the Padres are “likely” to shop Snell, that doesn’t mean they’re going to trade him. Though, they could look to replenish their farm system after trading a haul for Juan Soto just a year ago. It remains to be seen what ends up happening with Snell’s future in San Diego, but it’s definitely intriguing that he could be had for the right price.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.