Blake Snell has a prediction for the San Diego Padres’ trade deadline, and it might not be what you’d expect.
“I think we’re buying. That’s what I feel like,” Snell said Thursday, according to The Athletic.
The kicker: Snell said he was basing this off what he and his family are feeling.
“I mean, not from anyone, like, high up in the org,” Snell said, answering if he had gotten that inkling from someone inside the Padres.
“My family, they all want us buying. I love it here, so I ain’t trying to go anywhere.
“I’d rather just stay here and see what happens,” the lefty starter, a pending free agent, said about speculation that he would be traded. “I’d rather finish this year here and see what happens.”
San Diego’s trade deadline quandary is one of the more interesting questions around the majors as Aug. 1 approaches.
The Padres, who were supposed to be a National League West favorite with their star-studded roster, have underperformed expectations all season long.
Despite superstars Juan Soto, Fernando Tatís Jr., Xander Bogaerts and Manny Machado, the Padres are 46-51, 10 games out of the division lead and 6 1/2 games out of a wild card spot.
The Padres are sitting behind the Dodgers, who hold the division’s top spot, as well as the upstart Diamondbacks and the Giants, who both hold wild card spots.
Their underperformance has fueled some speculation that the team could look to deal their 24-year-old star in Soto at the deadline after acquiring him for a swath of prospects last year.
Snell, 30, has enjoyed a resurgent season in which he’s become one of MLB’s best pitchers again, pitching 103 innings with a 2.71 ERA while striking out 12.2 batters per nine innings.
The lefty appears to be cruising toward his best season since his 2018 Cy Young award campaign and will be set to make a hefty sum this offseason.
Since May 1, Snell has been one of the most dominant hurlers in the game — he’s posted a 1.91 ERA and compiled 2.1 wins above replacement, according to Fangraphs, during that time range.
Snell’s not the only one pushing the Padres to stay on the offensive.
There have also been rumors the star-hunting San Diego squad will be in on the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes should the two-way megastar become available.
