The New York Yankees have been hoping to land a bonafide ace to pair alongside Gerrit Cole for the 2024 season and free agent pitcher Blake Snell is widely considered a preferred option.
Writing for USA Today, Bob Nightengale reported that the Yankees have now made a short-term offer for Snell, hoping the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner will agree to it or come down on his asking price after he balked at their first offer a few weeks ago.
“The New York Yankees, who offered free-agent starter Blake Snell a five-year, $150 million contract before turning to Marcus Stroman last month, still have serious interest in him,” according to Nightengale. “They are waiting to see if his asking price drops on a long-term deal or if he agrees to take a short-term contract that could pay him in excess of $35 million a year.”
Blake Snell, Gerrit Cole Would Make Strong One-Two Punch for the New York Yankees
After a disappointing 2023 that saw the Yankees miss the playoffs, the team has made several notable moves to reignite World Series aspirations.
Most notably, they traded for Juan Soto, arguably the best left-handed hitter in MLB, to pair with star slugger Aaron Judge. And to address a starting pitching staff that fell off drastically after Cole last season, the team added free agent veteran Marcus Stroman.
Otherwise, the team’s moves have been largely peripheral. But adding Snell would certainly qualify as another blockbuster.
In an eight-year MLB career, the two-time Cy Young winner has a career 3.20 ERA, 1,223 strikeouts and 71 wins across 992.2 innings. A popular knock on Snell is that he might not be as durable or dependable for large volume as someone like Cole, but he has pitched at least 128 innings for the last three seasons in a row.
“It is hardly an open secret about the Yankees needing at least one pitcher behind Cole after losing out on Yoshinobu Yamamoto,” Larry Fleisher noted for Forbes. “They could keep the alignment of Carlos Rodon and Nestor Cortes as their number two and three starters or could add someone to lessen the pressure on the left-handed duo who is coming off injury-plagued seasons.”
A Lucrative, Short-Term Deal Could Make Sense for Both Blake Snell and the New York Yankees
After turning down a six-year offer from the Yankees, Snell could be finding that his market is not as robust as he would have hoped. From the Yankees’ perspective, a short-term deal could mitigate some of the risk that he won’t be able to handle a lot of innings. And from Snell’s it could be a bet that his market would pick up again in the near future.
“It’s possible it could work out for Snell if he were to pivot to maximizing short-term earnings,” according to MLB Trade Rumors. “Instead of focusing on a total guarantee, Snell could push for a record in terms of average annual value… Snell is 31 years old and could still get paid in his mid-30s if he stays healthy and effective.”
A short-term deal that pays more than $35 million per season could be a win-win compromise between the Yankees and Snell, a pairing that has been among the most highly anticipated of all likely blockbusters this MLB offseason.
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