Blake Snell to Sign With NL West Rival Giants, Ending His Padres Career
A reunion between Blake Snell and the San Diego Padres always seemed like a longshot.
Monday, the divorce became official.
Snell agreed to a two-year contract with the NL West rival San Francisco Giants, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The deal is for $62 million with an opt out after the first year.
The 31-year-old left-hander is coming off a season in which he won the National League Cy Young award, and carried the Padres’ rotation to the finish line of a disappointing season.
Snell went 14-9 with a 2.25 ERA in 32 starts, with a career-high 234 strikeouts in 180 innings. He received 28 of 30 first-place votes in Cy Young balloting.
The Padres’ front office has been eyeing a payroll reduction since the end of last season. A free agent for the first time in his career, Snell was a better fit on the team’s starting pitching depth chart than their budget.
The best free-agent starter remaining on the open market, Snell was among a handful of premier players who remained unsigned into spring training. He, outfielder Cody Bellinger, designated hitter J.D. Martinez and left-handed pitcher Jordan Montgomery are represented by agent Scott Boras. Montgomery and Martinez remains unsigned.
The Padres acquired Snell from the Tampa Bay Rays in a Dec. 2020 trade for Francisco Mejia, Luis Patiño and two minor leaguers. He went 29-25 with a 3.15 ERA in 83 starts as a Padre, striking out 575 batters across 436.2 innings.
