ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) Tampa Bay ace Blake Snell is frustrated by not being selected Sunday for the AL All-Star team, a squad that Rays manager Kevin Cash feels the left-hander still could end up joining.
”I’m optimistic that things are going to turn out OK for Blake,” Cash, a member of the AL All-Star coaching staff, said Monday. ”A lot of us throughout baseball feel that he’s deserving. Saying that, the guys that were selected are also very deserving. It’s a product of the system a little bit.”
Snell, 12-4 with an AL-best 2.09 ERA, said Monday that being added to the squad now would not be the same as being an original selection.
”I feel like being an alternate, it’s not satisfying,” Snell said. ”I feel like I earned it but being an alternate, it doesn’t feel the same.”
Tampa Bay catcher Wilson Ramos, voted in by the fans as the AL starting catcher, was ”really, really mad” about the snubbing of Snell.
”It’s not right,” Ramos said.
Ramos, a potential free agent after the season, feels it is likely he will be dealt before the trade deadline.
Washington, where Ramos played from 2010-16 and the site of this year’s All-Star Game, has heavily scouted Tampa Bay.
”I’ve got good memories over there,” Ramos said. ”If I get traded (there), it would be fun to be back there, playing for them again.”
Snell called the support he received from teammates ”cool.”
”To see all of them having my back, that’s special,” Snell said.
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