Morning Mound Visit: Padres go for it

Zach Kram | The Ringer: Late Sunday night, the Tampa Bay Rays shipped Blake Snell off to San Diego in exchange for Luis Patiño, Francisco Mejía, Cole Wilcox and Blake Hunt. Though Snell was signed to an extension that any team in baseball could afford, the trade makes sense for both sides if you’re willing to take an objective look at it.

MTPeterson | Gaslamp Ball: San Diego also signed 25-year-old KBO star Ha-seong Kim on Monday. Kim hit .306/.397/.523 with 30 homers for the Kiwoom Heroes in 2020. Primarily a shortstop in his seven-year career, Kim is expected to play second in San Diego with Fernando Tatís Jr. manning shortstop.

Craig Edwards | FanGraphs: Trading for Snell and signing Kim wasn’t all the Padres did since Sunday. They also acquired Yu Darvish from the Cubs without giving up a top-five prospect. The return for the Cubs was noticeably lighter than what the Rays got in return for their frontline starter.