Blue Jays Reportedly “Monitoring” Blake Snell’s Market

The market for #2 pitching free agent Blake Snell has started to heat up following the signing of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the best free agent pitcher of the offseason, with the Dodgers late last month. In recent weeks, Snell has been linked to the Red Sox, Phillies, Giants, and Angels; the Yankees are rumored to have made an offer for the lefty’s services. Details of that offer are provided by Bob Nightengale of USA Today. It appears that the Yankees’ offer was “nearly $100MM” less than what Snell’s team was hoping to receive this winter, even though they are still seeking “at least $240MM.”

The Giants and Yankees have added players to their rotations since those first meetings, which may have eliminated them from consideration for Snell: While the Yankees added Marcus Stroman to their own starting five, the Giants acquired Robbie Ray in a deal with the Mariners and signed Jordan Hicks to strengthen their rotation mix. It’s unknown if either club will continue to pursue Snell in light of those additions, but it’s safe to say that they aren’t in as much of a dire situation as they were a few weeks ago in terms of starting pitchers. However, Nightengale claims that there are still “several” teams in contact with Snell’s camp in the hopes that his high price tag will attract more teams to Snell, even if those two clubs have left his market.

Toronto would be something of a surprising fit for Snell. While the club was among the finalists involved in the Yamamoto sweepstakes, the club has seemed to eschew a more general foray into the pitching side of free agency this winter in favor of bolstering a lineup that lost Matt Chapman, Whit Merrifield, and Brandon Belt to free agency this winter after key bats such as George Springer, Alejandro Kirk, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. under-performed in 2023. By contrast, starting pitching proved to be a notable strength of the Blue Jays’ roster last season as the club was led by ace righty Kevin Gausman and saw strong rebound campaigns from both Yusei Kikuchi and Jose Berrios after difficult seasons in 2022.

With that being said, the Blue Jays made clear they had money to spend this winter with their strong bid for the services of Shohei Ohtani last month and the club’s recent additions of Kevin Kiermaier and Isiah Kiner-Falefa make a strong pursuit of Cody Bellinger or Chapman, the offseason’s best remaining positional free agents, less likely than they appeared to be earlier this winter. With money available and few clear fits in free agency to spend it on, a pursuit of Snell could place Toronto’s rotation firmly among the best in the game. The reigning NL Cy Young award winner, Snell led the majors with a sterling 2.25 ERA in 180 innings of work last season and would create an enviable duo at the top of the club’s rotation alongside Gausman.

A pursuit of Snell would also provide the Jays with protection against potential injury or ineffectiveness that they lack after veteran southpaw Hyun-Jin Ryu departed for free agency back in November. While the club’s rotation looks strong on paper, a regression from Kikuchi or Berrios or continued struggles from Alek Manoah after an abysmal 2023 campaign could hamper the club’s ability to emerge from a competitive AL East with a playoff spot next season. Even Chris Bassitt, despite serving as one of the most reliable mid-rotation starters in the game in recent years, threw a career-high 200 frames last year across 33 starts and is entering his age-35 season in 2024. While top prospect Rickey Tiedemann could factor into the club’s rotation mix sometime next season and provide the depth the club’s starting five currently lacks, the addition of another quality rotation piece such as Snell would take pressure off of a 21-year-old hurler with just four innings of work at the Triple-A level headed into what could be his rookie campaign.

Naturally, bringing a bat-first player into the team’s struggling offense is more important than trying to sign a pitcher. However, the team might prefer to save its money in anticipation of a strong free agent class that is expected to feature offensive stars like Alex Bregman, Juan Soto, and Jose Altuve next offseason. Nightengale seems to be hinting that the Blue Jays are not interested in signing Snell at his high asking price right now. Even if his contract does end up going down, teams that are desperate for rotation spots, like the Red Sox or Angels, will probably be more motivated to outbid Toronto in a bidding war. In order for the Blue Jays to strengthen their rotation without