Blake Snell finally signed with a team following a long offseason. Snell, the reigning National League Cy Young winner, recently agreed to a two-year, $62 million contract with the San Francisco Giants in MLB free agency. Snell’s agent Scott Boras and Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi both addressed the media, along with Snell, on Wednesday.
According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Zaidi began his press conference by jokingly saying he called the White House for a potential presidential medal of freedom honor since he negotiated three contracts with Boras this past offseason.
Boras had a difficult offseason. A number of his clients settled for short-term deals with opt outs. Snell won the NL Cy Young in 2023 and couldn’t land anything more than two years and $62 million with an opt out.
Boras and Zaidi did negotiate three contracts, though. San Francisco also signed Matt Chapman and Jung Hoo Lee in addition to Snell.
“Well I told Farhan, it’s kind of like hockey,” Boras said, via SF Giants on NBCS. “Unless you have a hat trick, you’re really not doing your job.”
So why the Giants? After all, a number of teams may have offered Boras’ clients similar deals. Boras thinks Giants manager Bob Melvin, who previously coached Snell with the San Diego Padres, played a role.
“Bob has actually cost me a lot of money this offseason,” Boras continued. “Players really, really like playing for Bob. They’re successful with him.”
All three signings will be important for San Francisco in 2024. But it is not every day that you sign a two-time Cy Young winning pitcher.
Blake Snell excited for new chapter with Giants
Snell is a two-time NL Cy Young winner. His strengths and weaknesses have been discussed throughout the offseason. In summary, Snell features some of the best strikeout stuff in baseball, but he does have a tendency to lose command of the strike zone at times.
Although signing Snell comes with risk, the reward cannot be denied. But what exactly made Snell decide to sign in San Francisco?
“I think comfortability,” Snell said of his decision to sign with the Giants, via SF Giants on NBCS. “I know the staff, I know the players really well. Been in this city a lot. It’s close to home. There’s a lot… I’ve heard a lot of good things from other players that have played here.
“But I’ve played with Tampa, San Diego, or just playing against, so there was a lot of good that I heard. I never really heard anything bad about it. That intrigued me.”
Of course, previously pitching for the Padres won’t hurt moving forward. He is familiar with the NL West without question.
When will Snell join the rotation?
Snell has not participated in spring training yet, so he won’t be ready for Opening Day.
“Blake Snell told me he won’t be ready for Opening Day,” Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “He’s in the 60-pitch range but those are without adrenaline and facing big league hitters. Giants will set a schedule after he throws in bullpen tomorrow.”
The fact that Snell is already throwing around 60 pitches is a good sign. Of course, he has not faced MLB hitters in game-action this spring, so San Francisco will want him to accomplish that before joining the big league rotation.
Snell’s plan has yet to be revealed. He will possibly pitch in a spring training game and then could start a few games in the minor leagues, in similar fashion to what players do who are rehabbing from injury.
Nevertheless, Snell does not seem to be too far away from joining the rotation. Perhaps he will make his Giants regular season debut within the next few weeks.
The Giants still have around a week of spring training before Opening Day, which is scheduled for March 28. San Francisco missed the playoffs in 2023, but excitement has increased as a result of the team’s strong offseason.
How do you think Snell will perform in his first season with the Giants?
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