National League Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell is the top remaining pitcher on the free-agent market, but he reportedly isn’t planning on giving any team a discount in negotiations.
According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Snell “continues to seek a contract that will pay him at least $240 million, and now awaits to see what team blinks first.”
Nightengale noted that the New York Yankees “made an introductory offer for nearly $100 million less” than what Snell is seeking, and it was “quickly dismissed” before the team pivoted to signing Marcus Stroman to a two-year, $37 million deal last week. There are reportedly “several teams” that are “engaged with Snell while seeing if his price tag drops,” with the Toronto Blue Jays particularly named to be “quietly monitoring his free agency.”
Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported in late December that Snell had also drawn interest from the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants, and Los Angeles Angels, among others. However, it won’t be easy to get him to reduce his asking price after his impressive 2023 campaign.
Snell started a career-high 32 games for the San Diego Padres in 2023 and went 14-9 with a 2.25 ERA, a 1.19 WHIP, and a career-high 234 strikeouts in 180.0 innings of work. He’s now the seventh player in MLB history to win Cy Young Awards in both leagues, having won the AL Cy Young in 2018 when he was a member of the Tampa Bay Rays.
Snell undoubtedly would be a major addition to any starting rotation, so it will be interesting to see where he lands this winter.
