Bleacher Report · Feb 18, 2021
Blake Snell Says He Was 'Really, Really Sad' After Rays Traded Him to Padres
Starting pitcher Blake Snell is thrilled to join the San Diego Padres after the Tampa Bay Rays dealt him in a blockbuster deal this offseason. He just wasn't quite ready to leave Florida.
In an essay published by The Players' Tribune on Thursday, Snell said it took a while to process the December trade after reaching the World Series in Tampa.
"I have to be honest," Snell wrote of the trade. "In that moment, and even for a few weeks after, there was a huge part of me that was just really, really sad. This is going to sound corny, but my heart was tied super solidly to Tampa. I was there for 10 years. They believed in me, they drafted me, they built me up. That was my family."