Cincinnati Reds: 3 reasons to avoid trading for Blake Snell

2. The Reds would have to overpay to land Blake Snell.

On the surface, Blake Snell’s contract looks like a steal. The left-hander is owed $10.5M in 2021, $12.5M in 2022, and $16M in 2023. For a starting pitcher who’s got a Cy Young to his credit, that’s incredible value. The Reds have a similar deal for All-Star third baseman Eugenio Suárez. But, what will it cost in order to make deal?

That’s where the Cincinnati Reds, and every other major league team for that matter, will have to overpay if they hope to land Snell’s services. The Rays know what they have, and with the free agent market virtually void of any talented starter sans Trevor Bauer, Tampa Bay can afford to ask for the moon in return for Snell.

What would that look like for the Cincinnati Reds. Going back to 2018 when the Rays traded Chris Archer, Tampa Bay was able to land the Pirates No. 1 prospect Austin Meadows and their former No. 1 prospect Tyler Glasnow. That would amount to something like the Reds dealing Nick Senzel and Hunter Greene to the Rays, and probably more considering how scare the starting pitching market is.

Would a combination of Greene, Senzel, and maybe Jonathan India be enough to pry Snell away from Tampa Bay. Perhaps. Should the Reds make that move? Absolutely not. One could argue that Blake Snell would be the third-best pitcher on the Cincinnati Reds roster. If the Reds are going to give up that kind of haul, they should go “all-in” to land Francisco Lindor.