Padres near deal to acquire Blake Snell from Rays

Here’s to a week with more good than bad.

Tribe News

Mission for Cleveland front office: Can they keep threading the needle | cleveland.com

Hint, hint... the Rays threaded the needle again. More below.

From Terry Pluto:

Tampa Bay, Oakland and the Tribe have been the best at competing with modest cut-rate budgets in a sport with no salary cap that punishes teams in smaller markets. The A’s and Rays had cheaper payrolls than the Tribe in 2020. All three made the playoffs.

“For the last eight years, we have been very competitive,” said Francona. “Have we gotten to the final prize? No, and that’s disappointing. But we’ve remained extremely competitive, and that’s our goal moving forward.”

Around the League

• Padres near deal for Snell in blockbuster offseason move
• Rays swap brings prospects, makes Tampa cheaper, not better in 2021
• Since 2008, the Rays have won more games than 25 other MLB teams