During the offseason, the New York Yankees reportedly had interest in signing free-agent pitcher Blake Snell. And according to various reports, the team still had interest when Snell, now with the San Francisco Giants, was rumored as a potential trade piece. However, the Yankees reportedly balked at actually acquiring Snell.
As one of several teams that appear to have sniffed around Snell, the two-time and reigning NL Cy Young winner, the Yankees may have expressed interest in Snell ahead of the MLB trade deadline, but they may have decided they weren't that interested considering his contract.
“Sources say the Giants wanted a top-100 prospect and for the acquiring team to take responsibility for the contract, which included a $30 million 2025 player option,” MLB insider Jon Heyman wrote for the New York Post.
“That option is why the Yankees didn’t seriously pursue Snell. In their 110 percent luxury-tax bracket, that’s $63M, which was tough with the Yankees badly wanting to retain Juan Soto beyond the year.”
It would make sense that the inclusion of a prospect would not have been a big deal to the Yankees, who have Aaron Judge, Juan Soto and Gerrit Cole on the team in hopes of winning their first World Series in 15 years.
Heyman reported that in addition to the Yankees, the teams that “checked in” on Snell before the deadline were the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles.
The Padres, in particular, would have been an interesting destination considering Snell spent the last three seasons in San Diego and won last year's Cy Young as a part of the Padres' pitching rotation.
Giants pitcher Blake Snell heating up during the summer
We now know Blake Snell will finish the season with the San Francisco Giants, and it's plausible to wonder if the last month before the MLB trade deadline may have increased the Giants' asking price.
After a rough first three months, Snell, who waited until just before the season began to sign with the Giants, began to put together his best outings of the season starting in July following his return from a groin injury. Before the time off, Snell had a 9.51 ERA over six starts. Opposing batters were feasting on the two-time Cy Young winner.
However, the Snell that returned from injury in early July was a different Snell than we had seen in April, May and early June. In his first game back, he limited the Toronto Blue Jays to just one hit in five innings. Five days later, Snell one-hit the Minnesota Twins over seven innings.
Snell allowed four hits and two earned runs vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers in his next start before putting together one of the best performances of his career on July 27 vs. the Colorado Rockies.
On that day, Snell surrendered just two hits and struck out 15 batters in six innings, becoming the first player in nearly 125 years to have that many Ks in as few of innings Snell pitched. Additionally, Snell came one strikeout away from tying the Giants' single-game strikeouts franchise record.
While the asking price probably rose with Snell finding his form, the Giants holding onto Snell could prove costly if he declines his player option in the offseason. If he chooses to do so, he will become a free agent and likely will have assurances somewhere he can make comparable money.
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