MLB Rumors: Blake Snell Expected to Land $100M Contract in FA After Giants Stint

After taking a glorified pillow contract from the San Francisco Giants as a late signee last offseason, Blake Snell is expected to get the deal he has been seeking for two years this winter.

Per ESPN's Kiley McDaniel, the expectation within MLB is that Snell will land a deal worth at least $100 million from some team in free agency.

Coming off a 2023 season with the San Diego Padres that earned him the NL Cy Young award, Snell figured to be one of the most sought-after free agents.

Instead, the winter came and went without any deal for Snell. He wound up signing a two-year, $62 million contract with the Giants on March 19, nine days before their first game of the regular season.

The deal included a $38.5 million player option for 2025 that he declined on Nov. 1. As a result of signing so late, Snell didn't make his season debut until April 8. He made three starts before going on the injured list with an adductor strain.

Snell's first start back on June 2 ended after 4.2 innings when he suffered a groin injury that landed him back on the IL. He was 0-3 with a 9.51 ERA, 32 hits allowed, 31 strikeouts and 14 walks over 23.2 innings in six starts at that point.

After returning to the mound on July 9, Snell regained his Cy Young form. The 31-year-old had a 1.23 ERA with 33 hits allowed and 114 strikeouts in 80.1 innings over his final 14 starts.

Snell's style of pitching can be frustrating because he works deep counts and walks a lot of hitters. His 4.38 walks per nine innings since the start of 2021 is the fourth-highest rate in MLB.

Despite his tendency to put runners on base, Snell has made it work because he misses so many bats. Of the eight pitchers who have a walk rate of at least 4.00 per nine innings over the past four seasons, his 3.15 ERA is by far the best. Patrick Sandoval is the only other member of that group with a sub-4.00 ERA (3.80).

Snell has averaged at least 11 strikeouts per nine innings in every season since 2018. He is one of five active pitchers who has won at least two Cy Young awards, along with Clayton Kershaw, Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom.