The New York Yankees are predicted to land Blake Snell in free agency to bolster its rotation.
Snell is one of the best starting pitchers available in free agency and he will have plenty of suitors. According to Danny Abriano of SNY, he predicts the Yankees will land the two-time Cy Young winner in free agency.
“Depending on how the Yankees’ offseason plays out (more on that below), they could be among the top suitors for the biggest starting pitchers on the market,” Abriano wrote. “And they had interest in Snell last offseason before they signed Marcus Stroman.
“The Yanks need to improve their fundamentals this offseason and make their offense more well-rounded, but they also need another ace-level starter,” Abriano added. “Snell has the ability to dominate, and should not cost as much in terms of years or dollars as the other top starters.”
Snell would immediately help bolster the Yankees rotation. Aaron Boone could have the left-hander pitch after Gerrit Cole and before Carlos Rodon to solidify New York’s rotation.
The left-hander went 5-3 with a 3.12 ERA in 20 starts with the San Francisco Giants. He won the Cy Young in 2018 and 2023.
What is Snell’s Contract Expected to be?
Snell signed a two-year, $62 million contract with the Giants last off-season but opted out after one season.
The two-time Cy Young winner will likely get more money and more term in this year’s deal. In The Athletic’s contract prediction, they have Snell signing a four-year $110 million deal.
“I projected a five-year, $135 million deal for him last winter, and instead he settled for two years and $62 million from the Giants with this opt-out,” the article read. “After another very strong second half, he compares pretty well to himself from a year ago, as well as some other pitchers who earned higher AAVs in shorter terms.
“Since Snell’s entering his age-32 season, let’s chop a year off last year’s projection and add ever so slightly to the AAV, in line with Stroman’s deal,” the article added.
MLBTradeRumors, meanwhile, projects Snell to sign a five-year $160 million deal.
In his career, Snell is 76-58 with a 3.19 ERA in 211 starts.
Yankees Bring Back Cole
New York’s first move of the offseason was re-signing ace Gerrit Cole.
Cole opted out of his deal, but the right-hander and the Yankees agreed on a four-year $144 million deal, which was the original deal that Cole opted out of.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman says the fifth year was something they didn’t want, but are glad to have Cole back.
“We wanted our player and our ace back. He certainly didn’t want to go either,” Cashman said at the GM Meetings. “We had a lot of healthy dialogue about trying to thread the needle and keep it in play. We could always talk further as we move forward about the future…
“All parties wanted to keep the relationship going,” Cashman added. “The pressure point was the time frame we were in and the window that we’re in, so we removed the time frame.”
