Padres News: NL West Rival 'Ideal' Landing Spot for Blake Snell
With many highly touted names still available in free agency, it appears reigning National League Cy Young award winner Blake Snell would be a perfect fit with the Padres' divisional rival, the San Francisco Giants.
According to Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report, Snell could end up signing with the Giants on a six-year $168 million deal.
The Giants have been linked to Snell all offseason, as they missed out on both Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Both players signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
"The San Francisco Giants are in danger of once again being shut out of the top-tier of free agency, whiffing in their pursuit of Shohei Ohtani in a situation that mirrors last offseason's disappointment in failing to land Aaron Judge and Carlos Correa."
Snell has spent the last three seasons with the Padres after beginning his career in 2016 with the Tampa Bay Rays. He is now entering free agency for the first time in his career.
During his time with the Padres, Snell underperformed with the team in 2021, but over the last two, he has been everything fans expected him to be. He was dominant this past season, going 14-9 while pitching with a 2.25 ERA while striking out 234 batters, the highest in his career.
In an 8-year major league career, Snell has won two Cy Young awards. His first came in 2018 with the Tampa Bay Rays, when he went 21-5 with a 1.89 ERA. His most recent was awarded in November, after a season in which the left-hander went 14-9 with a 2.25 ERA. Snell led the league in ERA during both years.
Right now, it's without a doubt that Snell is the best available starting pitcher available in this year's free agency class and could make an impact anywhere he signs.
