Oh, what do you know! The New York Yankees were reportedly “in” on Blake Snell before the left-hander conducted the heel-turn of the year and ditched the San Francisco Giants for the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. We honestly think, with every Yankees vs Dodgers free agency race in the modern era, only Gerrit Cole has chosen New York, which is insane to think about.
Snell signed a five-year, $182 million contract, which was obviously either too rich for the Yankees’ taste or too problematic because that AAV will pay the left-hander more than Cole’s $36 million. If the Yankees were drawing a line with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, they were surely doing the same with Snell.
But the Yankees botched this long before this offseason. Last year, they badly needed another pitcher after Carlos Rodón’s bust of a 2023, Clarke Schmidt’s uncertainty, and Nestor Cortes’ injury troubles. Who’d they opt for? Marcus Stroman, on a three-year, $54 million contract.
Yes, that is a fraction of what was given to Snell, but do you see a trend here? When faced with offering real money to Freddie Freeman, the Yankees ostensibly passed on that opportunity to give a similarly short-term, high AAV deal to Anthony Rizzo, who collected $60 million from the organization over the last three seasons. Freeman signed a six-year, $162 million deal, the same as Rodón.
Had the Yankees been more aggressive with Snell last offseason, perhaps we’re telling a different story right now. Had the Yankees, at the very least, given Snell the deal the Giants did, we could be having a very different conversation about the outcome of the World Series (in addition to Snell’s future).
Blake Snell contract represents another massive Yankees free agency miss
But once again, the Yankees went a step (or two) lower on the talent totem pole, offered less money, took on less risk, and got the exact result expected: a worse product with more roster construction concerns in the present and future … all the while watching their NL counterpart get stronger and stronger.
Outside of Cole, name a marquee free agency battle the Yankees have won over the last 10 years that was a franchise difference maker. You can’t. It doesn’t exist. The Yankees are perennially “in” on all of the top talent, then either lose to a more attractive destination, or have a litany of excuses when the final bell rings and they’re being pinned on the mat.
The Yankees could have had two different versions of Snell. They could’ve had the low-risk, short-term deal last offseason, or they could have gotten creative and offered him a long-term deal during an offseason when he was oddly not receiving much interest. Their efforts fell short with their reported $150 million offer, and they immediately jumped ship to Stroman.
Now, they’ll be trying to get rid of Stroman and the rest of his $36 million while the team that just pantsed them in the World Series offered Snell $32 million more and sealed the deal. When the offseason starts out like this, you just know it’s not going to go in the Yankees’ favor.
