Only one month into the season, the San Francisco Giants are already having a very bad start. The Giants witnessed Blake Snell, probably their greatest starting pitcher, sign a five-year, $182 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers in free agency less than four weeks after witnessing the division rivals win the World Series. Aww. It’s terrible enough to lose a top player in free agency, but it’s far worse to lose him to a division rival. Ask Boston Red Sox supporters what it was like to see Roger Clemens and Wade Boggs lead the New York Yankees to a World Series victory.
Los Angeles simply improved, while San Francisco simply deteriorated. They are on the verge of widening their 18-game gap in the standings from the previous season. Over the next few years, the Giants will now have to play Snell many times a season, serving as a continual reminder of their humiliating inability to retain him. Why the San Francisco Giants’ Worst-Case Scenario Is Crushing Free Agent Departure Blake Snell (7), the starting pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, leaves the field during a game against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on August 24, 2024, in Seattle, Washington, USA. USA TODAY Sport’s Stephen Brashear on Facebook, Twitter, Flipboard, and Reddit Why the San Francisco Giants’ Worst-Case Scenario Is Crushing Free Agent Departure Only one month into the season, the San Francisco Giants are already having a very bad start.
The Giants witnessed Blake Snell, probably their greatest starting pitcher, sign a five-year, $182 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers in free agency less than four weeks after witnessing the division rivals win the World Series. Aww. It’s terrible enough to lose a top player in free agency, but it’s far worse to lose him to a division rival.
Ask Boston Red Sox supporters what it was like to see Roger Clemens and Wade Boggs lead the New York Yankees to a World Series victory. Los Angeles simply improved, while San Francisco simply deteriorated. They are on the verge of widening their 18-game gap in the standings from the previous season. Over the next few years, the Giants will now have to play Snell many times a season, serving as a continual reminder of their humiliating inability to retain him. Beginning last summer, when Snell was a free agent fresh off his second Cy Young title, San Francisco had a lot of opportunities.
The Giants cut corners and offered him a one-year, $32 million contract with a 2025 player option rather than committing to a multi-year contract. Snell, who missed the majority of the first half due to injury, only made 20 starts for San Francisco. The Giants were below.500 and had a difficult time qualifying for the postseason by the time he made his permanent return in July. In a last-ditch attempt to salvage its dwindling postseason aspirations, San Francisco kept Snell instead of trading him for controllable assets before the deadline. The Giants struggled and finished 80-82, missing the postseason despite Snell’s strong pitching (5-3, 3.12 ERA).
San Francisco still had the opportunity to re-sign Snell when he declined his player option, which was to be expected. Rather than receiving anything in exchange, the Giants allowed him to walk. San Francisco ought to have committed to extending Snell this offseason or dealt him when the opportunity arose. He will now be a Dodger for the remainder of the decade since the front office did neither. For a year, the Giants possessed one of baseball’s top pitchers, and they wasted him. Their only hope now is that it won’t come back to haunt them.
