Three potential landing spots for two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell

The winter meetings are slated to begin on Dec. 3, which means MLB free agency should pick up speed. Coming off a season where he posted an MLB-best 2.25 ERA and won his second career Cy Young Award, left-hander Blake Snell is one of the most coveted pitchers on the open market.

Here are three teams that could be a potential destination for Snell.

Boston Red Sox

After consecutive last-place American League East finishes and the hiring of Craig Breslow to replace Chaim Bloom as the club's chief baseball officer, the Red Sox have plenty of work to do to become relevant again. It's going to require a noteworthy signing to sell skeptics on the team's direction, but Boston might not be well-equipped to make a serious run at two-time AL MVP Shohei Ohtani or RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Nonetheless, the Red Sox need a reliable front-line starting pitcher, and if Snell can replicate last season's 180 innings pitched in 2024, he'd be worth splurging on. Boston's 4.52 team ERA was the fifth-worst in the AL last season, and the team's most innings pitched came from right-hander Brayan Bello, who ranked 51st in that category (157). 

Entering his age-31 season, Snell is an ideal target to keep Boston in contention for a wild-card spot in the coming years as it waits for more of its promising young prospects to debut. 

San Francisco Giants

Eventually, San Francisco needs to make a splash after being the bridesmaid to several big-name free agents in past offseasons, including shortstop Carlos Correa and the infamous "Arson Judge" last winter. Although MLB Network's Jon Morosi reported earlier this week that San Francisco is "prioritizing" one of Ohtani or Yamamoto, if it fails to land them, Snell wouldn't be a bad consolation prize. 

The Giants were in playoff contention for most of last season despite lacking much star power in their lineup, thanks largely to having the third-best ERA in the National League (4.02). To avoid another late-season collapse, the Giants hired former Padres manager Bob Melvin for the same role, a factor that may provide them with an edge in the Snell sweepstakes. 

Not to mention that ballpark-wise, there might not be a better place for Snell to pitch than Oracle Park, which is the sixth-most pitcher-friendly venue in MLB, per Forbes' Tony Blengino. In four career road starts against the Giants, Snell posted a 2-0 record with an ERA of 1.59 and 31 strikeouts. Pairing Snell with righty Logan Webb, the runner-up for the 2023 NL Cy Young Award, would give the Giants arguably the top pitching duo in baseball, which no team would want to face in a playoff series. 

Seattle Mariners

While the Mariners aren't the ideal match for Snell, it's impossible to ignore them as a suitor. Seattle ranked third in ERA (3.74) last season, which suggests it should instead upgrade its offense, which was second in strikeout percentage (25.9%) and 22nd in batting average (.242), but Snell's hometown ties could influence that decision.

According to MassLive's Chris Cotillo, the Seattle native Snell "badly wants to pitch for his hometown Mariners." Additionally, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times recently predicted on Seattle Sports’ "Brock and Salk" radio show that the Mariners will sign Snell and then trade one of their young starting pitchers for an impact bat.

RHP Logan Gilbert has been floated as a potential trade chip for the Mariners, and considering he won't hit free agency until after the 2027 season, the 26-year-old would surely fetch a strong return. However, it wouldn't make much sense for Seattle to make that type of move without already having a deal with a player of Snell's caliber lined up.