Around noon on Tuesday, most of the two days since it was decided that they would split up, Blake Snell was organizing his new life and Erik Neander looked just a little melancholy.
Snell had a new puppy. “Goose,” he called, seemed to bring him some comfort. Neander, general manager of the Tampa Bay Rays, who left Snell for the San Diego Padres for four players, grew a beard.
They said they understood that they had every reason to be happy. From a new rotation or close to it, Snell was heading to the coolest city in the country to lead the hottest baseball team as it is meeting. And Neander, he’s been through this before, having seen or pulled the trigger on deals that kicked David Price, James Shields, Chris Archer and Matt Moore out, and those are just a few of the pitchers, and in his heart he believes that’s healthy franchises. In smaller markets that do not attract they remain healthy.
The story is how now the Fathers, who never won a World Series, strive first to become the best team in Southern California, with Snell (and soon, presumably, Yu Darvish). And how now the Rays have found a way to win the two games they didn’t win in late 2020, with four new guys, but not with Snell. The story is the rise and fall of markets that explore and commit to developing and winning with a player they can no longer – or choose not to – pay at their peak, how it works when a pandemic sets in and how one of those markets sell short and the other buy short.
So, how it hurts both of them in some corner of their souls, arriving in a decade since a clumsy 18-year-old southpaw with a big fastball and sad eyes was available in 52nd place. They – together – turned this into a Cy Young Award winner and a guy who would take them to the sixth inning of Game 6 of the World Series with a race advantage, which is kind of a decade, which is why the parties Erik Neander’s regretted having to do this and parts of Blake Snell regretted having gone.
With that, a howl was heard near his feet.
“Even my dog is upset,” said Snell. “And he’s only 4 months old.”
Rays once made organizational decisions based on the fact that Snell was coming. Archer was traded halfway through Snell’s Cy Young season. This exchange brought Tyler Glasnow, just as Matt Garza once brought Archer.
“The economy has to be taken into account, you know?” Said Neander. “Our revenues and what we generate is what it is. This year has been a challenging year for everyone. I will keep this in perspective. There are many people out there who have gone through much more difficulties than any of us. This is just a game. But that was not done because we were trying to move Blake. This was done in large part because of the talent we are recovering. That was the big motivator for us here.
“We are not actively pursuing this. (…) We came up with an idea, there would be a high price that we would set and, if someone got involved and put pressure on us, we would have to consider it. And that is what has happened more than anything here. “
Snell has been with the free agency for three years. He is expected to receive an increase of $ 3.5 million – from $ 7.6 million – in 2021. In 2023, he will be earning $ 16.6 million. So, at 28 and with a good resume, a bargain. He said on Tuesday that he knew his time would come, that it was part of being a Tampa Bay Ray, saying goodbye and being the only one to leave. He hugged enough guys on his outings to know.
Still, man, no matter how good he’ll be where he’s going (in 24 minutes, he said “super excited” 14 times and “excited” or “exciting” 19, so almost 1.4 times a minute), it seems like be something about being a Ray in a land of Yankees, Red Sox and Dodgers that settles in your heart. The first call he made after learning it had been dealt with was to his now former pitching coach, Kyle Snyder. Before your family. Before your friends. Before, maybe, even Goose.
He called it bittersweet.
“They really raised me and prepared me,” he said. “I was a child when I got there and they made me into, I would like to say, a good man. So yes, there is a lot to be thankful for. I will be grateful for many things. Many relationships that I am very happy to have made. But, you know, with all that said, it prepared me for when they negotiated with the Fathers to be ready for this opportunity and to take advantage of it. “
That said, he added, the hours leading up to the call saying he was the last to speak, “It was just sad. Honestly, it was just sad. I didn’t really process what it would be like to have spring training in Arizona, to go play in San Diego with this team. I was just reflecting more on the last 10 years of my life and what I went through. And the things I learned, the people I met and the importance it had in my life. “
With that, he smiled, probably because of the life that has passed and the life that now awaits him. He said that the Fathers definitely have a “drip”, which is apparently good and means that they know who they are and like it, which suits their personality perfectly. Also, he can always call his old teammates, he can always call Snyder in particular, because, he said, “That’s what he signed up for when he signed up to be my second dad”, and he’s going to take fond memories, even those who ended up with one eliminated on the sixth entry.
“I’m going to start to transform that and focus on all the positive aspects, you know, of the Fathers and what that will bring and things like that,” he said. “As I start to look ahead and prepare for the season, it will be super exciting for me and it is new. I’m excited to be part of this team. It is a very talented dance club. … We have a chance to win a World Series right away and you have to love being part of it. “
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