The San Diego Padres starting rotation will look very different when the season kicks off in a few weeks. They have replaced multiple arms in the rotation with inexperienced players, hoping to replicate similar success to last year.
One player who isn't expected to return is starter Blake Snell, who is currently still on the open market as a free agent. Snell won the Cy Young Award last season with San Diego and has been waiting for the right deal to come along.
He reportedly is looking for a deal above $200 million, but it remains to be seen if he will land that type of money. Multiple teams have balked at his asking price, including the San Francisco Giants, who have been linked with Snell all winter.
One MLB executive told USA Today's Bob Nightengale that if the Giants wanted Snell, he would likely be there already. San Francisco is managed by former Padres skipper Bob Melvin, who knows Snell very well from their time together.
While the Giants have long been a favorite for Snell, as one executive said, “If [manager] Bob Melvin really wanted him, don’t you think he’d be there by now? I think it tells you something.’’
The Giants have been in on Snell for a while, but it is a little odd that they haven't landed him yet. Melvin knows exactly how dominant the left-hander can be, and he would create a solid one-two punch at the top of the Giants rotation with right Logan Webb.
San Francisco may want to wait for the price tag to come down on Snell, but it remains to be seen if that will happen. They may also be out on the veteran starter, but everything is fluid when it comes to free agency.
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