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The Los Angeles Dodgers have agreed to a five-year, $182 million contract with left-handed starting pitcher Blake Snell, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Jorge Castillo.
According to The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya, the deal includes some deferred money. The 31-year-old also gets a $52 million signing bonus, per Jon Heyman of The New York Post.
Fabian Ardaya @FabianArdaya
Dodgers’ deal with Blake Snell includes some deferred money, source tells The Athletic. https://t.co/ZO6X9C4b1k
Snell himself teased his signing with the Dodgers on Instagram before ESPN’s report, posting a photo of himself in the team’s uniform with the caption, “LA 👀.”
Foul Territory @FoulTerritoryTV
Blake Snell just posted this picture of himself in a Dodgers uniform on his Instagram. pic.twitter.com/m2fX1ldXNv
Snell signed a two-year, $62 million deal with the Giants last offseason. The contract included a $38.5 million player option for 2025, but the southpaw declined it to become a free agent, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.
Snell went 5-3 with a 3.12 ERA (1.05 WHIP) and 145 strikeouts in 104 innings. Two stints on the injured list due to a left adductor strain and a groin injury held him to 20 starts.
The year before, he won his second Cy Young award, going 14-9 with an MLB-best 2.25 ERA for the San Diego Padres. He struck out 234 batters over 180 innings (32 starts).
At his best, Snell is a strikeout machine and one of the best starters in baseball. The biggest knock on him is that he doesn’t go deep into games, notably averaging just over five innings per start last year. But he’s usually fantastic when out there, and he keeps his team in ballgames.
So Snell is a clear asset. If he’s able to stay healthy and post 30-plus starts, another Cy Young candidacy isn’t out of the question either.
Heyman reported on Nov. 14 that Los Angeles was “looking into” free-agent pitchers including Snell, Corbin Burnes and Max Fried.
This was in addition to the Dodgers’ chase for prized Japanese ace Roki Sasaki.
“Word is that assuming they land Sasaki, they’ll try for one more big pitcher,” Heyman wrote.
Now Snell’s aboard, the World Series champions have further cemented their status as the Fall Classic favorites for next year.
The Dodgers had a litany of starting pitching injuries last year, and the team plans to use a six-man rotation in 2025. So it makes perfect sense that they’d go after someone like Snell.
Unsurprisingly, the deep-pocketed Dodgers were able to land him, making Los Angeles much more dangerous going into next season.
