On Tuesday night, the San Francisco Giants and reigning CY Young award winner Blake Snell have agreed to a 2 year $62 million deal. The agreement permits an opt-out option following the end of the 2024 season. Snell is slated to receive $15 million in 2024, alongside a signing bonus of $17 million due in January of 2026. Also, In 2025, he is set to earn $30 million, with $15 million of that sum deferred until July 1, 2027.
San Francisco boosts its pitching lineup by adding the reigning NL Cy Young recipient alongside last year's runner-up, Logan Webb. Snell definetly didn't anticipate signing a two-year contract when the winter began. The 31-year-old entered free agency following an unbeliaable performance in the 2023 season. Even though Snell had a pretty rough start to the season, allowing 15 runs in his first 23 innings, he dominated from May onwards, where he was undoubtedly the best pitcher in the league. Through 27 starts and 157 innings after April, Snell gave up just 1.78 earned runs per nine innings.
Last season, Snell proved to be extremely difficult to hit against, evident from his impressive 234 strikeouts in 180 innings pitched. His whiff rate of 37.4% ranked second highest among starting pitchers in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008), trailing only Spencer Strider's 2023 season (38.6%).
Although Snell's mid-90s fastball was remarkable, it was his secondary pitches that were especially effective in 2023. A impressive 51.7% of swings against his slider, curveball, and changeup resulted in strikeouts.
Snell limited opponents to a .470 OPS with runners in scoring position, which was significantly lower than any other starting pitcher. While some might consider this as a stroke of luck, it's worth noting that Snell also topped the Majors with a .374 OPS with runners in scoring position during his Cy Young Award-winning season with the Rays in 2018. This figure stands as the third-lowest recorded by an AL/NL starter in a single season (minimum 100 batters faced with runners in scoring position).
Now that Snell was signed, it is likely that the Giants No. 8 prospect, Mason Black, will head down to Triple-A Sacramento to start the season. Black was set to possibly be the number 5 guys in the rotation.
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