Blake Snell rumors: Ranking 5 suitors as offseason slows to a crawl

Blake Snell had a season to remember in 2023, posting a 2.25 ERA in 32 starts and 180 innings pitched, eventually taking home his second Cy Young Award. Snell got off to a bit of a rough start, but had as dominant of a 23-start stretch to end his season as any starting pitcher has had in a long time, posting a sparkling 1.20 ERA in 135 innings of work.

Despite his dominant campaign, Snell is a pitcher who has received little public interest. While other aces like Sonny Gray and Aaron Nola signed very early this offseason, Snell remains on the board as we approach mid-February.

Part of the reason for that is presumably his asking price. Snell is likely asking for absurd money, and teams are unwilling to spend it on him. Additionally, the southpaw is a pitcher who has his own shortcomings. He’s had durability issues throughout his career, making 30+ starts just twice in eight seasons. Additionally, his command can be spotty at times. Snell did win the Cy Young Award in 2023, but also happened to lead the league with 99 walks given up.

Once Snell’s price comes down, teams will be interested. Any of these five make sense, but one destination sticks out in particular.

5) The Red Sox are a perfect fit for Blake Snell, but it’s still an unlikely match

The Boston Red Sox entered the offseason with one glaring hole. Their starting rotation. Boston once again ranked toward the bottom of the league in starting pitching ERA and fWAR in 2023, and all they’ve done is swap Chris Sale out for Lucas Giolito.

Giolito should provide more innings than Sale, but the question is, how quality will those innings be? The right-hander has posted an ERA near 5.00 in each of the last two seasons, and after some late-season struggles with the Angels and Guardians, things aren’t exactly looking up. While Sale has major durability concerns, his 3.71 xERA in 2023 shows he’s still a very solid arm when healthy.

Adding an arm like Snell to slot at the top of Boston’s rotation would make the 2024 Red Sox far more interesting. They’d be adding a legitimate ace who, when on top of his game, can go toe to toe with guys like Corbin Burnes and Gerrit Cole.

The Red Sox are a team with a formidable lineup and a solid bullpen, but their rotation will be what holds them back in 2024. Adding Snell won’t make them a World Series contender by any means, but it puts them closer to the pack in the AL East and in the AL Wild Card race undoubtedly.

While you’d think a big market team like the Red Sox would be willing to spend on Snell to fill such a gaping hole, the Red Sox have shown no desire to spend big money for years, and that has continued onto this offseason. While Snell would be a perfect fit, Boston’s unwillingness to spend makes this match extremely unlikely to ever come to fruition.

4) The Cubs could be NL Central favorites by adding Blake Snell

The Chicago Cubs have been quiet relative to expectations this offseason. They signed Shota Imanaga and Hector Neris at strong value, and pulled off a trade for an infielder in Michael Busch who can be really good. Still, on paper, the Cubs look worse than the 83-79 team that they were in 2023.

Adding Craig Counsell can give the Cubs a couple of extra wins, but the Cubs losing Marcus Stroman to the Yankees and potentially losing Cody Bellinger as well really hurts. While the Cubs hope Imanaga can be a solid contributor, Stroman is a proven arm who can be a number three or so on a great team.

Justin Steele is an excellent piece to start a rotation, but the staff could use a major boost. While Kyle Hendricks had a solid year in 2023, he’s missed substantial time with shoulder troubles in each of the last two seasons and is now 34 years old. Jameson Taillon had a shaky first season with the Cubs. Jordan Wicks is unproven.

The Cubs rotation has a lot of potential, especially if guys like Imanaga and Wicks can pitch well, but is also one that can be poor after Steele if things go wrong. Adding another arm with that in mind like Snell can be what pushes Chicago into the NL Central hunt with teams like the Reds and Cardinals.

3) The Angels are in desperate need of a frontline arm like Blake Snell

The Los Angeles Angels have done a nice job rebuilding their bullpen by signing arms like Robert Stephenson and Matt Moore, but since losing Shohei Ohtani to the Dodgers, they’ve done nothing to address what was a subpar rotation in 2023.

The Halos ranked 19th in the majors in starting pitcher ERA. While that might not seem so bad on the surface, that was with Ohtani making 23 starts. Now with Ohtani gone, their best pitcher is one of Reid Detmers, Patrick Sandoval, or Griffin Canning. While those are decent arms to plug into the middle of a rotation, they’re nowhere near an ace.

The Angels need an ace to be competitive as they hope, and with one of the worst farm systems in the majors, the only way for them to get that ace realistically is to pay a guy like Blake Snell.

Sure, signing Snell to a big deal comes with some risk, but the Angels are a team that can take on some risk. If it doesn’t work, then what? They’re the same losing team they’ve been for the last decade. If it works out, however, they finally have an ace who can potentially lead them back to the postseason hunt sooner than later. The roster can be good if they can add a legitimate ace.

2) The Giants need a quality starter like Blake Snell to stick behind Logan Webb

The San Francisco Giants are a team that has an established ace in Logan Webb, but the surrounding pieces in their rotation leave a whole lot to be desired. Having Alex Cobb and Robbie Ray behind Webb sounds great, but they’re both on the IL and are expected to be out when the regular season begins.

In terms of healthy arms, guys like Kyle Harrison and Jordan Hicks rank behind Webb in San Francisco’s projected Opening Day rotation. Harrison looked good in his first MLB action to finish out this past season, but he’s hard to trust with just seven MLB starts under his belt. Hicks was a big signing made by the Giants this offseason who has proven himself to be a great late-game reliever, but with just eight MLB starts to speak of, he’s unproven as a starter.

Guys like Keaton Winn and Tristan Beck can be fine fifth starters, but both being in the same rotation on a team vying for a Wild Card spot feels less than ideal.

In a division with teams like the Dodgers, Diamondbacks, and even the Padres likely projected to finish ahead of them, the Giants need to make an impact move. Snell would be that impact move at a position of need. He can help them tread water until Cobb and Ray come back and then, if things break their way, the Giants can have one of the better playoff rotations in the league with Webb, Snell, Cobb, and Ray as their four starters.

1) The Yankees make the most sense as a potential Blake Snell destination

The New York Yankees made the decision to trade for Juan Soto who is entering his final year of team control before hitting free agency at season’s end. Trading for Soto and not going all in feels like a mistake. The Yankees going out and getting Blake Snell would be them pushing all their chips forward to win right now. That’s exactly what Brian Cashman should be trying to do.

On paper, the Yankees rotation looks good. Gerrit Cole just won the Cy Young. Carlos Rodon is a Cy Young caliber arm when healthy. Marcus Stroman is a solid innings eater. Nestor Cortes Jr. was an All-Star in 2022. Clarke Schmidt is a solid fifth starter. While things look good, the rotation is one full of question marks.

Rodon, Stroman, and Cortes all have major durability concerns. Rodon and Cortes in particular missed most of the 2023 season due to injury and struggled when healthy. Schmidt faltered down the stretch, posting an ERA of 4.94 in the second-half. How good will he be in 2024?

Adding an arm like Snell can give the Yankees some added depth which they need after executing the Soto trade, and can give them more of a trustworthy arm to pair with Cole at the top of the rotation. Snell has experience pitching in the postseason, and is familiar with the AL East dating back to his days with the Rays.

Yes, it won’t come cheap, but it’s not like the Yankees don’t have money to spend. They just offered Yoshinobu Yamamoto a contract worth $300 million before he threw a single MLB pitch, and reportedly offered Snell a deal this offseason as well. Adding Snell can make the Yankees not only favorites to win the AL East, but potentially the AL Pennant. If he’s pitching well, a duo of Cole and Snell is almost impossible to beat four times in a seven-game series. With so much on the line in 2024, it’d behoove New York to get this done.

This article was originally published on fansided.com as Blake Snell rumors: Ranking 5 suitors as offseason slows to a crawl.