December 29th, 2020 share-square-1064668 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.—The Tampa Bay Rays have acquired right-handed pitcher Luis Patiño, catcher Francisco Mejía, minor league catcher Blake Hunt and minor league right-handed pitcher Cole Wilcox from the San Diego Padres in exchange for left-handed pitcher Blake Snell. Snell, 28, departs the Rays with a career 42-30 (.583) record, a 3.24 ERA (556-IP, 200-ER) and 648 strikeouts in 108 starts over five seasons (2016-20). He ranks among the top five in franchise history in strikeouts (fifth), ERA (second to David Price), opponents’ avg. (.223, first) and winning pct. (third). In 2020, he went 4-2 with a 3.24 ERA (50-IP, 18-ER) in 11 regular season starts, then went 2-2 with a 3.03 ERA (29.2-IP, 10-ER) over six postseason starts. Facing the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series, he became the third left-handed pitcher to record nine strikeouts (or more) twice in a single Fall Classic, joining Sandy Koufax of the Dodgers (three times in 1965) and Hal Newhouser of the Detroit Tigers (twice in 1945).