On the last Sunday night of December 2020, it began as Dennis Lin reported that the Padres had arranged a trade for Blake Snell. Around noon the following Monday, AJ Cassavell tweeted that the Padres had signed Ha-seong Kim. And then Monday night, Jeff Passan confirmed that the Padres would trade for Yu Darvish.
The message is clear: Slam Diego has pushed their chips to the center of the table while other MLB teams are cashing in and calling it a night. (“Financial flexibility,” you know.