The extended period of Blake Snell’s free agency is over.
Ten days before his new club takes on his old one, the San Diego Padres, in the regular season, the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner agreed to a two-year, $62 million contract with the San Francisco Giants on Monday, a source told ESPN’s Jeff Passan. There is an opt-out clause in the agreement after the first season.
Similar to Cody Bellinger and Matt Chapman, two other Scott Boras clients who signed after spring training started, Snell’s contract offers him a higher average annual value in exchange for a shorter duration, but it also permits him to reenter free agency in the hopes of benefiting from a stronger market the following offseason.
Snell caps off a hectic summer for the Giants, who had only once advanced to the postseason in the previous seven years. Under manager of the year Bob Melvin, who has won three times, the club has worked hard to add more star power.
The Giants added Korea’s Jung Hoo Lee, a leadoff hitter and center fielder, to their roster in December with a six-year, $113 million agreement. In February, they signed Jorge Soler, a middle-of-the-order bat, to a three-year, $42 million deal. They also signed Jordan Hicks, who will become a full-time starter, and traded for former Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray, who will not play until the second half while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
However, their greatest moves came 18 days after they decided to sign Snell: on March 1, they signed Chapman to a three-year, $54 million contract with two opt-outs.
After three seasons with the Padres, Snell, 31, will now rejoin the team in a division where the Los Angeles Dodgers, led by Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Shohei Ohtani, just spent over $1.2 billion on players.
On Friday, Snell pitched a four-inning practice game from his Seattle hometown. The clubs most often associated with Snell were the Houston Astros, Los Angeles Angels, and New York Yankees; nevertheless, in the end, the Giants’ short-term offer prevailed.
Snell, who went 14-9 with an MLB-best 2.25 ERA for San Diego in 2023, is one of seven pitchers who have won the Cy Young Award in both the American League and the National League. He was voted first place in 28 out of 30 cases.
Snell defeated Justin Verlander in 2018 by recording a 1.89 ERA in 31 starts for the Tampa Bay Rays, earning 17 of 30 first-place votes.
With a devastating fastball-breaking ball combo, Snell has long been known for possessing some of the nastiest stuff of any left-hander in the game. Following the 2020 World Series, the Rays made him available for trade, and San Diego leaped at the chance, sending four players in exchange for the lefty. Of all the pitchers who were eligible for the ERA championship the previous season, he gave up the fewest hits per nine innings (5.8), giving up only 115 hits in 180 innings pitched.
However, due of his inconsistent play and previous leadership concerns, several clubs were hesitant to make a major offer on him during the free agency period. After winning his first Cy Young Award, Snell’s ERA skyrocketed to 4.29 in the next year. Snell led the big leagues in walks with 99 during the previous season.
The New York Post was the first to report about Snell’s deal with the Giants.
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