The Los Angeles Dodgers officially announced their latest free agent signing on Tuesday, welcoming two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell to the team with a press conference at Dodger Stadium. It comes after the two agreed to a five-year contract worth $182 million.
The 32-year-old will join Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow at the top of Los Angeles’ pitching rotation after a brief stint with the San Francisco Giants.
It is the largest contract of his career, which started in 2016 with the Tampa Bay Rays.
When asked Tuesday why he chose Boys in Blue, Snell said his decision was an easy one, and based in part on a mutual interest in living in the City of Angels, which he shares with his girlfriend.
“Then you look at the team. You look at what they’ve built, what they’re doing. It’s just something you want to be a part of,” Snell said.
He says having a lineup with star players like Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman was extra motivation.
“You want to be around players like that when you’re trying to be one of the best in the game. Yeah, it played a big role,” he said. “Look at the first three batters in the lineup, that’s hard to play against. So to be on the other side and know that they’re going to hit for me, yeah, pretty exciting.”
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For the Dodgers, who are looking to repeat their exciting adventure World Series victory over the New York Yankees in October, signing Snell was also an easy decision.
“All the conversations kept coming back to Blake,” Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman said. “With Blake, one thing that’s really exciting for us is as much success as he’s had, we feel like there’s more to come.”
He’s known Snell since the southpaw was just 18.
“One time Andrew and I started talking to Scott [Boras]I got really excited,” Snell told KCAL News. “I’ve known Andrew since I was pro, he drafted me.”
Friedman was the general manager of the Rays at the time and selected Snell with the team’s first-round pick in the 2011 MLB Draft out of his high school in Seattle.
“I want to start. I want to be a Dodger, you know. He’s the one, the reason I started playing pro ball and hopefully we can keep going until I’m done playing,” Snell said.
The left-hander signed with the Giants a few months into the 2024 season after failing to land a major deal in free agency months after winning his second Cy Young Award.
He opted out of the two-year contract he signed with San Francisco, officially becoming a free agent for the second year in a row. Because he previously turned down a qualifying offer from the San Diego Padres last November, the Giants were not eligible to sign Snell again this offseason.
Just a few days ago, Snell posted on his Instagram account, “I’m very excited to be a Dodger, can’t wait to win more championships with you, and see you at Dodger Stadium.”
Snell went 5-3 with a 3.12 ERA in 20 starts for San Francisco this year and threw a no-hitter in Cincinnati on Aug. 2 for one of only 16 individual shutouts in the major leagues this season. The left-hander struck out 145 batters and walked 44 batters in 104 innings.
In nearly 1,100 career innings, Snell has a 3.19 ERA with 1,368 strikeouts. He has a record of 76-58 and has been named to one All-Star Game. He was part of the 2020 Tampa Bay team that ultimately lost the World Series to the Dodgers.
