It was reported late Monday night by Jon Heyman that Blake Snell is signing a two-year, $62 million deal with the San Francisco Giants.

What Took So Long?

It’s about time for the reigning NL Cy Young winner. In a traditional free agent market, Snell would’ve been the most sought-after pitcher following an award-winning 2023. But this off-season has been anything but traditional.

Massive contracts from the likes of Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto have stunted and slowed the pitching market. And Snell isn’t the only victim. Jordan Montgomery, who played an important role in the Rangers World Series victory, is still on the market. These are guys who became free agents during week nine of the NFL regular season. Now, they are negotiating contracts with less than a week left in Spring Training.

As a two-time Cy Young winner, we all know “Snellzilla” can be dominant. However, when you dive deeper into the numbers, he may not be as dominant as other Cy Young’s.

For starters, last season he led the league in walks issued with 99. Snell has struggled with that throughout his career with a walks per nine innings of 4.1. Yet, his career 11.1 strikeouts per nine make him a threat for 200+ Ks in a season, if he can stay healthy. He also led the league last year with 5.8 hits per nine. Essentially, Snell can get into trouble from time to time, but he’s an escape artist.

SF is Making Moves

The news of Snell signing with the Giants on a two-year contract is a win for the player. Especially when you look at the details of the contract- Snell will make $23.5 million on payroll this season. That puts him up there AAV-wise with the likes of Zach Wheeler, Aaron Nola, and now fellow teammate Robbie Ray. However, Snell has a player option next season to which he will probably pick up at $38.5 million in payroll. It’s a pretty big gamble the Giants have to take, but nonetheless shows their confidence in the signing.

Following the report of the two-year deal between Blake Snell and the Giants, San Francisco now enters the top half of the league in spending at $155 million in total payroll. Sliding in between the Angels with $156 million and the Padres with $153 million- the Giants and Farhan Zaidi must be pretty satisfied with the offseason spending.

San Francisco has now signed Korean infielder Jung Hoo Lee, former Cardinals reliever Jordan Hicks, and traded Mitch Haniger to the Mariners for Robbie Ray- although he’s on the 60-day IL for elbow surgery. They then made a splash and signed Jorge Soler to a three-year $42 million deal, followed by another splash in Matt Chapman for three years $54 million.

This is what the Giants do. They hardly ever overpay, signing guys to contracts anywhere from $50-$70 million, and then rely on coaching and young talent to put them over the top. It’s what Zaidi has been doing since he took over in 2019. But does it actually work?

It’s Time to Prove It

Since 2019, the Giants have made the playoffs only once after an insane 107-55 season in 21. Yet, it was cut short by an early 3-2 division series loss to the Dodgers. Other than that, it’s been three third-place finishes, and a fourth-place finish last year. San Francisco has been nothing better than a middling team under Zaidi’s command. Let’s see if the Snell signing, a new manager in Bob Melvin, and other splashes can create waves in the Bay Area this upcoming season.

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