I realize the easy (lazy?) route to go with the Blake Snell trade analysis is to point to money, but maybe, and hear me out here, a really smart team proactively traded a player that they had concerns about long-term and wanted to maximize the trade return for while they could.

Snell was limited to 107 innings in 2019 because of elbow surgery. He had a cortisone shot in his elbow in Spring Training 2020. The command has been down from the Cy Young season. It was perfectly reasonable for the Rays to be concerned and to look to maximize a trade return.

Proactively trading Snell makes a ton of sense to me. The market factors are there, but they're an easy narrative to latch onto when evaluating the trade. Too many teams are reactive & not enough teams are proactive. It's unconventional, so it's being criticized. Good on the Rays

I'd be thrilled if other teams (cough, Indians, cough) would adopt that approach. Trade earlier instead of later. Don't get dimes on the dollar. Maybe the Kluber and Lindor returns would have netted the team something resembling an actual outfield for 2021 and beyond.