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Alden González, ESPN writer
Blake Snell’s lengthy free agency is over.
The reigning National League Cy Young Award winner agreed to a two-year, $62 million contract with the San Francisco Giants on Monday, 10 days before his new team opens its regular season against his old one, the San Diego Padres. , a source confirmed to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. The deal includes an opt-out after the first season.
Snell’s deal, like those of fellow clients Scott Boras, Cody Bellinger and Matt Chapman, who signed after spring training began, gives him a higher average annual value in exchange for a shorter length of his contract. contract, but it also allows you to return. he enters free agency hoping to experience a stronger market next offseason.
Snell rounds out what has been a busy offseason for the Giants, who have made the playoffs just once in the last seven years and struggled to acquire more star power for a team now led by three-time manager of the year Bob Melvin.
The Giants added a new center fielder and leadoff hitter in Korean Jung Hoo Lee, who signed a six-year, $113 million contract in December, and a new middle-of-the-order bat in Jorge Soler, who was given a three – year, $42 million deal in February. They also traded for former Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray, who won’t return until the second half while recovering from Tommy John surgery, and signed Jordan Hicks, who will become a full-time starting pitcher.
But their biggest moves came late, when they landed Chapman on March 1 with a three-year, $54 million contract that includes two opt-outs, 18 days before agreeing to bring in Snell.
Snell, 31, spent the last three years with the Padres and will now return to a division where the Los Angeles Dodgers spent more than $1.2 billion in an offseason led by Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow.
Snell pitched a four-inning simulated game from his hometown of Seattle on Friday. The Houston Astros, Los Angeles Angels and New York Yankees were among the teams most frequently linked to Snell, but he ultimately won the Giants’ short-term offer.
Snell is one of seven pitchers to win the Cy Young Award in both the American League and National League, taking home the trophy in 2023 after going 14-9 with a 2.25 ERA, the best in the MLB for San Diego. He received 28 of 30 first-place votes.
In 2018, Snell earned 17 of 30 first-place votes after posting a 1.89 ERA in 31 starts as the Tampa Bay Rays beat Justin Verlander.
Snell has long been famous for having some of the nastiest stuff of any left-hander in the game, with a ferocious fastball and breaking ball combination. When the Rays made him available for trade after the 2020 World Series, San Diego took advantage of the opportunity and traded four players for the left-hander. He allowed the fewest hits per nine innings (5.8) of any pitcher he qualified for the ERA title last season, allowing just 115 hits in his 180 innings.
Some teams, however, were concerned about making big offers for him in free agency due to his command issues and inconsistency in the past. The year after winning his first Cy Young Award, Snell’s ERA skyrocketed to 4.29. Last season, Snell led the major leagues in walks with 99.
Snell’s deal with the Giants was first reported by the New York Post.
ESPN’s Buster Olney contributed to this report.