Blake Snell’s first foray into MLB free agency was an extended disaster. He’s probably happier with how the second go-round went.
The two-time Cy Young winner agreed to a five-year, $182 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
Left-hander Blake Snell and the Los Angeles Dodgers have agreed to a five-year, $182 million contract pending physical, sources tell me and @jorgecastillo. The World Series champions get the two-time Cy Young winner in the first nine-figure deal of the winter.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 27, 2024
Snell didn’t have a qualifying offer this year after turning one down last season, so his signing won’t cost his new team a draft pick. The deal comes after an up-and-down season for the San Francisco Giants, but one that definitely ended with momentum on Snell’s side.
By early July, he had a 9.51 ERA through six starts and had missed significant time due to two trips to the injured list. And then, as he usually does, Snell got better in the second half. After returning from the IL on July 9, he posted a 1.23 ERA over his last 14 starts with 114 strikeouts in 80 1/3 innings. Batters hit .123/.211/.171 against him.
Thanks to that run, Snell entered this offseason as one of the top free agent arms and was ranked No. 6 on Yahoo Sports’ list of free agents this winter. Snell wasted little time in finding a new home, and it’s hard to blame him for that considering how last season went. Now he can join the reigning World Series champions.
Blake Snell joins a potential super rotation with the Dodgers
Snell not only found a deal 112 days earlier than last offseason, he also joined what could be an incredible rotation in Los Angeles.
Despite their success last year, the Dodgers entered the offseason with rotation as a clear necessity, with Jack Flaherty and Walker Buehler – two of their three true starting pitchers during their playoff run – hitting free agency. Snell is a bigger name than both.
The Dodgers’ 2025 rotation, when healthy, now projects something like Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw, assuming the latter follows through on his stated intention to re-sign with the team. Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May and Emmet Sheehan are also expected to return after missing all of 2024 with injuries.
It’s a formidable collection of pitching talent, but that “when healthy” qualifier is huge for the Dodgers. Their last two playoff teams have seen them enter the postseason with a rotation held together by duct tape. Every player mentioned above missed significant time last season due to injuries, and the Dodgers are responding by looking for even more talent.
The scary thing is that the Dodgers probably aren’t done yet. Corbin Burnes and Max Fried may be a bit steep right now, but a reunion with Buehler or Flaherty doesn’t seem out of the question. And of course, there’s the looming possibility of Roki Sasaki joining them for an outrageously small deal.
Blake Snell didn’t want a repeat of what happened last time
Rewind to the start of the 2023-2024 MLB season. Snell was named the 2023 NL Cy Young Award winner, making him one of 22 pitchers in baseball history to win the award multiple times. He also entered free agency for the first time in his career, with no shortage of suitors.
Snell expected a big contract, to the point that he reportedly turned down a six-year, $150 million offer from the New York Yankees. His agent, Scott Boras, is known for waiting out teams to get the best possible deal, but no such deal materialized.
By the time spring training started, Snell was without a team, nor were fellow Boras prospects Cody Bellinger, Matt Chapman or Jordan Montgomery. It was an embarrassing situation for the agent and his players, and resulted in them all signing short-term deals in late February and early March. In Snell’s case, he was signed to a two-year, $62 million contract with the Giants with an opt-out after the first year, which he exercised.
For all his talent, Snell had plenty of warnings that teams were afraid to promise him $200 million. For example, he was an older free agent at age 30, and his issues with consistency and durability are well known. He threw more than 130 innings in a season only twice, and he led the MLB in walks in 2023.
This most recent season hasn’t changed much of the narrative surrounding Snell, as he was terrible, injured, and subsequently Cy Young-worthy. But sometimes good things come to those who don’t wait.
