Blake Snell’s free agency was one of the top — and most drawn-out — storylines of the 2023-24 offseason. After lingering on the market well into spring training despite having just won his second Cy Young Award, he inked a two-year, $62MM deal with the Giants that affords him the ability to opt out and return to the open market again this offseason (this time without a qualifying offer). Snell’s decision to eventually settle on a two-year pact with San Francisco came months after a reported overture from the Yankees, who pivoted to sign Marcus Stroman after Snell rejected a longer-term offer.
At the time, MLB.com reported that the Yankees had put forth a six-year, $150MM offer to Snell, which he purportedly spurned in hopes of landing a lengthier deal. Snell himself was asked about the reported terms in a recent appearance with hosts Scott Braun, A.J. Pierzynski and Cameron Maybin on Foul Territory (video link). While the two-time Cy Young winner declined to delve into specifics, he stated in no uncertain terms that the numbers which became public were not accurate.
“The deal that came out — that wasn’t what was offered to me,” said Snell. “I can say that. … What they offered wasn’t close to that.”
Snell understandably wasn’t keen on going into specifics, which is common practice for players and executives alike when discussing free-agent interest. (Although Teoscar Hernandez notably divulged the Red Sox’ offer to him in a recent interview.) At this point, the specifics matter little; Snell seemed like a long-shot to join the Yankees once they added Stroman and pushed themselves into the top tier of luxury-tax penalization, meaning Snell would’ve come with a 110% tax hit (thus making his current $31MM AAV an expenditure north of $65MM). He signed with the Giants, and after a disastrous and injury-marred start to his San Francisco tenure, he looks largely back to Cy Young form.
Snell’s upcoming player option will mark a fascinating decision. If he continues at his current post-IL pace or anywhere near it (33 innings, 0.55 ERA, 36.3 K%, 8.8 BB%), he’ll surely turn down that second year and look for a long-term pact. He’s recently blanked the Rockies while punching out 15 batters over six frames and, of course, threw a no-hitter against the Reds his last time out. However, if he begins to struggle or incurs further injuries, there’ll be more consideration given to the second season of the contract. Few finishes in baseball will be more intriguing to follow than that of Snell.
Some other notes from the National League West division…
- The Dodgers recently promoted catching prospect Dalton Rushing from Double-A to Triple-A and his new team seems to come with a new assignment. Oklahoma City manager Travis Barbary says Rushing will exclusively be playing left field for now, per broadcaster Alex Freedman on X. The move is likely related to the fact that the Dodgers won’t have any playing time available behind the plate for a while. Will Smith recently signed an extension that runs through 2033. He’s essentially locked into the backstop role because Shohei Ohtani will be the designated hitter through 2033 while Freddie Freeman has first base locked up through 2027. Even after trading Thayron Liranzo in the Jack Flaherty deal, the Dodgers have two top 100 catching prospects in Rushing and Diego Cartaya, but Cartaya is considered the better defender with Rushing considered better at the plate. It’s been speculated that the club might deal from this catching surplus but it also seems they’re experimenting with Rushing at other positions to improve his chances of cracking the roster. He has logged some first base time as well as 35 innings in left field in Double-A and he now seems set to add to that total at Triple-A. Before the promotion, he hit 17 home runs in 77 Double-A games and drew walks in 11.4% of his plate appearances, slashing .270/.378/.512 for a wRC+ of 147. If he can generate that kind of offense in the majors or anything close to it, his bat will play at any position.
- Rockies right-hander Antonio Senzatela is going to begin a rehab assignment on Thursday, per Patrick Lyons of Just Baseball on X. The righty underwent Tommy John surgery just over a year ago, in July of 2023. His return won’t have a huge impact on this season as the Rockies are 42-72, ahead of only the lowly White Sox. But getting back on the mound before the offseason would be a nice development as the club looks to have a much stronger rotation in 2025 that could consist of Senzatela, Germán Márquez, Kyle Freeland, Cal Quantrill, Austin Gomber and Ryan Feltner. Senzatela and Márquez both underwent Tommy John surgery last year and have missed most of this season while Freeland also missed a couple of months due to a left elbow strain. Márquez was reinstated last month but went back on the IL due to elbow inflammation.
Looks like Snell might be giving Boras another chance, hopefully Boras learned from his mistakes.
Not sure how common it is for players to lock into multi-year contracts with their agents?
Don’t think Boras does learn from his mistakes.. Ever Fever and amount of fanboys of his on this site, who beat his drum citing big wins of his prove it. Does/is he the perfect guy to represent big names most offseasons? yes, but for mid range players and those of lesser talent, especially aging guys he’s (to me) the worst using what seems to be same “my way or highway” mentality with little leverage and I’ll always point back to his mouthing off about Varitek that winter of ’08 about him demanding 4/40m that offseason, -0- teams were going to give him squat, then having to literally come crawling back to Boston for 2/5m with the 2nd yr being a team option of 3m.
His defenders only see the Bryce harper deals, where most any agency could rake in large amounts, only wouldn’t resort to diarrhea of the mouth in doing so.
“Multi year contracts with agents”…I believe it’s a unilaterally severable contract(only takes one side to terminate)that can be ended by the player at pretty much anytime. Hence, the reason agents are often fired in the middle of the season or right before free agency. Any fees owes will be paid to the current agent and he will be dismissed from any future representation. For comparison NFL contracts are typically unilaterally severable by the team. This is my understanding anyway.
The agent gets paid for the length of the contract the player is currently under and any new agent would get paid for negotiating subsequent contracts and endorsements.
What mistakes? Agents don’t make the decisions. The article even said that Snell made the decision.
“Agents don’t make the decisions”…”What’s the most surprising thing I’ve seen during my many years as a Major League GM?..probably how disengaged and uniformed players were during their free agency process. Most players had no idea what the offers were or where we stood during the negotiating process”. – MLB Network’s longtime MLB general manager Dan O’dowd.
The player still makes the decision on the final offer. The agent negotiates on the player’s behalf, with an approximation agreed to with the player on what he’s looking. It’s not surprising the players are ignorant of the back and forth between offers and counter-offers. But once the agent obtains what he believes is the best offer, the decision to accept or reject, rests with the player.
Yes, but there’s also timing.
“Should I decide now or hold out longer ?”
True, and the player is the one to decide that.
You think ? You believe they have the market knowledge required to make that call ?
Id be shocked if most of them are going against the advice. It’s either guess or go with the man you are paying.
Yes, I totally believe that. I can’t imagine ML players turning huge, life decisions over to someone else. I don’t think market knowledge is that arcane. Players have a good idea of what they’re worth and which teams are the best fit.
The role of the agent is to negotiate the best deal he can, and present the options to the player. Then it’s in the player’s court. I don’t think agents are constantly offering advice, just presenting options
I don’t think Boras, or any agent, would last long as someone players trust, if he had a track record of recommending holding out for a better deal that never came. Most of these guys have big egos, and think they’re the best one to make the decision. See if Snell, when he opts out, changes agents.
I don’t care about Boras one way or the other. I don’t care about agents and clients, and who represents who. To me it’s not baseball, and I don’t understand why people get so fired up about Boras. I couldn’t care less, and think it’s silly. But I do think the players, in general, believe they’re the one’s in charge of their own destiny.
Ok. I’ve heard way too many professional athletes coming out with “no idea. that’s my managers job”. I think they direct and generally players follow.
I don’t think he has that track record, but I think it might have happened to Montgomery last year. The evidence suggests there was bad advice given at some stage.
I care. Don’t like him at all. The way he tries to drives a wedge between fans and teams that don’t bend to his will doesn’t sit well with me. No one else does that. Sh&t human.
Whatever he did to make Montgomery go elsewhere. They get paid to advise. The notion that they don’t heavily influence player decisions is fantasy.
“Player decisions is fantasy”…Top, well known lawyers and agents charge considerably more than the average agent, so there’s no way you’d hire Scott Boras and not take his advice.
@FPG I’m aware of your disdain for Boras. Is it really a mistake if Snell maintains his recent performance, opts-out, and receives the mega-deal he seeks? I don’t see Boras changing his tactics at all. ARod opted out and had Goldman Sachs negotiate his final deal with the Yankees. Boras sued for breach of contract and I believe the parties settled.
I think the Giants should negotiate and extend him for what he’s worth, no more no less.
Doesn’t hurt to start talking to Snell about tacking on additional years. I do doubt Boras will take a pass on free agency. Giants should also make a strong play on Juan Soto.
I agree, with the money coming off the books with Ray (player option), Conforto, Canha, they can restructure Snells contract and still dig in a top offer for Soto…a star is the missing piece for the Giants…they need someone to build around and these young kids like Fitz, Ramos, Luciano along with Birdsong, Harrison, Webb they could be ready next year for a good playoff push. They need to continue to get younger, not sure if Ray will opt out at this point though.
2033 with Ohtani locking up the DH spot…??? Even my knees hurt.
I can see Rushing making the squad next spring
Yes, as a backup catcher, LF and 1B option. It’s more likely, IMO, that he gets dealt this winter. His bat plays, for many teams, in the starting lineup—not the Dodgers though.
Will Snell even sniff a 6 year contract now????
Based on what he said, there’s no indication that he sniffed a 6 year contract before last year. Being 1 year older, the odds of a 6 year deal become even longer.
I’d guess that he ends up with a 5 year contract if he keeps pitching like he has lately, taking him through his age 36 season
“Even sniff a 6 year contract”…I guess Blake Snell is like former NBA player Latrell Sprewell, who felt that tens of millions of dollars wasn’t quite enough to feed, clothe and shelter his family. I guess $150M-$160M(Yankees offer)doesn’t go quite as far as it used to.
@mlb fan
going to take a wild guess that you didn’t read the article you’re commenting on
You clearly didn’t read the article that you are commenting on like a bozo
“Commenting on like a bozo”…Care to explain why someone that lives 35 minutes from Yankee Stadium needs an article to understand that Blake Snell turned down millions from the Yankees?..I watch quite a bit of baseball and don’t typically need media or talking heads to explain it or put it into context for me.
@mlb fan
Own up to your mistakes instead of doubling down and getting defensive. It’s not that big of a deal!
Since I am sure you still haven’t read the article, this is what Blake said:
“The deal that came out — that wasn’t what was offered to me,” said Snell. “I can say that. … What they offered wasn’t close to that.”
So you are mocking Blake for turning down a deal, on an article where Blake specifically says that the deal that was reported was not accurate. Kind of funny, right?
“Reported was not accurate”…Doesn’t pretty much every athlete or public figure claim he was “misquoted” or the “story was not accurate” when events in question backfire, make them look foolish or blow up in their face?…..Blake Snell came off looking foolish(and greedy) during his recent extended contract talks so I’m not surprised that 6 months later he tries to claim reported details “were not accurate”. Everybody does that now, even when events in question were captured on video. Seems if it “wasn’t accurate” he’d have said so many months ago.
While I agree with some of your points, I believe Snell in this case. It seems like it was in both Snell and the Yankees best interest to support the high dollar figure that was being rumored at the time. The Yankees look like they actually tried to sign someone, and it makes it look like there is high dollar interest in Snell
He isn’t exactly going to hold a press conference to say the dollars weren’t right, it makes sense to me that he would say so now when he was directly asked about it during a podcast (as they mention in the article that we of course, both read)
The NY Post “6/150 Snell offer” was refuted by Cashman directly on the Jomboy podcast shortly after the story came out. Other reporters kept pushing the narrative. He also admitted to talking to Marcus Stroman since last November when he finally signed in March. There wasn’t ever room to sign both.
I think it is hilarious that Snell turned down playing with the Yankees. It wasn’t the length or the dollars, it was the Yankees.
Players, when they hit FA do have choices. Rod Carew really PO’d Georgie telling him point blank he didn’t want to play for him, or his NYY when he 1st hit FA and was the best hitter in the world. Georgie, if remember correctly tried to make it out that one had to be special to be a Yankee (lol).
Those who remember Carew? he was a humble guy and likely wanted zip to do with any media market, why had nothing to do with (then) big spenders NYY/Boston in FA and settled for Anaheim.. far away coast (then) in baseball world, where he could continue in quiet, but it got george’s goat telling him to put away his check book, he wasn’t interested.
edit:
one of my old friends from winter haven sox, Bruce hurst left boston, headed to San Diego that reason. A strongly religeous morman from Utah. i missed him seeing come back for ST afterwards for years. solid dude.
Snell just had a baby and his girlfriend lives in Seattle. I wonder how much that had to do with him not wanting to play in NYC?
The family thing believe changes from player to player with regards to how much it pushes them to wanting the said player close.
Snell, you say has a wife and child pretty close in Seattle and he seems to want to be close. i, myself like that and can say admire him for it.
the other big SP FA Boras had this past offseason was Montgomery and his was kinf of a weird story. His wife is a Dr in Boston, so some thought they may have had some inside track, then it came out he was sitting much of the offseason.. Hoping the Texas Rangers would bail him and Boras out of the “sitzkrieg” they had set up with a multi year offer to return.. And Texas never did..
So think family, with Montgomery played little part.
Some guys it does, some get used to being apart.
Remember how some people thought snell would go to Seattle? Hah funny times
There’s a difference between Snell and Montgomery and what they must have considered to be home. Snell is from Seattle. He and his family make their home in the area.
Montgomery is from South Carolina. His wife went to med school there. Players spend half the season on the road, and many players don’t make their homes in the cities they play in. So it’s not surprising to me that signing in Boston because his wife is in residency there, had little impact.
Montgomery’s wife was doing a residency in Boston and had said she will be in private practice in Missouri when her residency is over. I don’t remember when that residency ends.
Anyone that paid attention to the Mariners spending history knew that wouldn’t happen.
Dodgers experiments with positional fungibility have had mixed results at best. Taylor turned out to be a decent OF, but Vargas was gawdawful. They tried Joc Pederson at 1B and he was terrible.
Snell is opting out. That is a given.
Even if he has a terrible rest of the season, unless he has another serious injury it is 100% certain that he will get more than $30 million guaranteed going forward. Even a 2/32 is more than 1/30 and after throwing a no hitter and having an utterly dominant 5 game stretch where he has given up just 2 runs in 33 IP while striking out 41 since coming back from the IL he will get more than $20 million AAV on a multi-season deal of at least 2 seasons.
Only question is does he go back to San Francisco or will he be playing elsewhere in 2025?
Thats a bit hyperbolic. Even though I agree he will opt out he would never trade 1/30 for 2/32.
I was being hyperbolic to make my point. As long as he is healthy at seasons end Snell WILL opt out because he WILL get more than $30 million guaranteed in free agency.
Vintage Snell. Sucks in the 1st half. Becomes god-tier in the 2nd half (especially when playing for a new contract)
Dodgers also have Hunter Feduccia who continues playing well and languish in the minors. Other gm’s would be wise to deal for him as he’s clearly buried and aging.
Agents work for the players. Agents are required to present all formal team offers to their clients. Talk between an agent and a team of contract parameters is not an offer, how much of these conversations are shared with the player depends on how much a player wishes to be in the loop.
Players sign with Boras because they want top dollar. Boras’ MO is to take all his players to free agency and not sign extension however IF a team makes a formal offer a player wishes to sign…. So basically as long as Snell is healthy he is opting out unless prior to having to make that decision, the SFG and Snell agree to an extension.
Last year Boras mis-read the market, I don’t know how anyone can say he didn’t. It was not a typical market and Boras didn’t make any adjustments to his normal MO of waiting the market out and ultimately 4 of his clients didn’t have a chair when the music stopped. Montgomery did fire Boras so clearly he was unsatisfied.