Blake Snell to Sign With NL West Rival Giants, Ending His Padres Career

The 31-year-old left-hander is coming off a season in which he won the National League Cy Young award, and carried the Padres’ rotation to the finish line of a disappointing season.

Snell went 14-9 with a 2.25 ERA in 32 starts, with a career-high 234 strikeouts in 180 innings. He received 28 of 30 first-place votes in Cy Young balloting.

The Padres’ front office has been eyeing a payroll reduction since the end of last season. A free agent for the first time in his career, Snell was a better fit on the team’s starting pitching depth chart than their budget.

The best free-agent starter remaining on the open market, Snell was among a handful of premier players who remained unsigned into spring training. He, outfielder Cody Bellinger, designated hitter J.D. Martinez and left-handed pitcher Jordan Montgomery are represented by agent Scott Boras. Montgomery and Martinez remains unsigned.

The Padres acquired Snell from the Tampa Bay Rays in a Dec. 2020 trade for Francisco Mejia, Luis Patiño and two minor leaguers. He went 29-25 with a 3.15 ERA in 83 starts as a Padre, striking out 575 batters across 436.2 innings.