Rays Prospect Says Blake Snell Reached Out to Explain Controversial Comments on Twitch

On Thursday, the Tampa Bay Rays completed a trade that sent outfielder Tommy Pham to the San Diego Padres in exchange for OF Hunter Renfroe and infield prospect Xavier Edwards.

To say that Rays left-hander Blake Snell wasn't pleased to see Pham shipped to the West Coast would be an understatement, as he unleashed a profane diatribe live on Twitch once he became aware of the transaction.

The rant expressed disconcerting criticism in the direction of Edwards, and on Friday the former AL Cy Young reached out to his new teammate to apologize for his antagonistic comments, which he claims weren't intended to be disrespectful.

#Rays Edwards also said that Blake Snell reached out to him earlier today and explained his comments on his Twitch account. Snell said that he didn't mean any disrespect, and Edwards said that he'll take Snell by his word.
— Juan Toribio (@juanctoribio) December 7, 2019

Additionally to getting in touch with Edwards, Snell agreed to an interview with the Tampa Bay Times, to assert that he was simply caught up in the moment of losing a player in Pham that was productive in 2019.

"I apologized on there just saying I’m sorry I’m just upset we’re losing a guy like Tommy who helped our team in so many ways," said Snell via the Times. "I didn’t mean any disrespect to Edwards who I didn’t know who he was until after I said that."

New #Rays prospect Xavier Edwards, who moved to Florida from New York when he was 5, said that it's cool to get traded closer to home and that he's "definitely excited to play for the Rays.”
— Juan Toribio (@juanctoribio) December 7, 2019

It's fair to say that we can put this whole ordeal behind us now, right?

Snell made regrettable comments, but ultimately did the right thing in extending an apology to Edwards, who will hopefully hold no grudges come Spring Training because of Snell's gesture.