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Blake Snell is about to be one of the hottest names on the free agent market. The star left-hander is going to be a target for a lot of teams, as he's the presumptive Cy Young award winner in the NL (which would be his second award of that nature).
Snell won’t be short of offers on the table as he prepares for his next career move. According to MLB insider Bob Nightengale, the Philadelphia Phillies could be a potential destination for Snell.
According to him, Dave Dombrowski and co. could turn to Snell in case they fail to agree a deal with Aaron Nola. At the moment, the two parties remain about $100 million apart in negotiations.
In a column for USA Today, Nightengale wrote,
“They (Phillies and Nola) were four years and about $100 million apart in their negotiations last winter, and it’s highly unlikely the gap will completely close. GMs believe that the Phillies will let Nola walk, and will turn their attention to Blake Snell.”
The Phillies made it to the NLCS for a second straight year, but fell considerably short in their attempt to make their second straight World Series. Hitting the free agency market is a good approach for a team that’s trying to manage their payroll while maintaining a competitive squad.
Letting Nola walk will certainly leave behind a void that needs to be addressed, and Snell seems like a good fit. However, Phillies fans think otherwise and some made their feelings clear.
Fair to say, Phillies fans seem far more excited over the prospect of signing Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The 25-year-old Japanese ace is US bound, after receiving official clearance from Orix Buffaloes to complete an MLB switch.
Blake Snell won’t be short of offers on the table, even if Phillies don’t make a move
In the event that Aaron Nola and the Phillies are somehow able to resolve their $100 million impasse, or if Nola leaves and yet the Phillies look elsewhere for a replacement, one thing is for certain - Blake Snell won’t be short of offers.
The Los Angeles Dodgers sound like an interesting option. They may or may not be signing Shohei Ohtani, but he can't pitch in 2024.
Clayton Kershaw is only getting older, and their rotation has been shattered by injury recently. Snell is a dependable and supremely talented player that they're familiar with. It makes total sense for the Dodgers to go after Blake Snell.
The Atlanta Braves could be another potential landing spot for Snell. Nothing stings like being the best regular season by a fair margin and not winning a single playoff series.
That's what happened to the Braves this year, who had a bit of a bump in the road with postseason pitching. Snell would answer that problem, and he'd make them an even more formidable force for the 162-game regular season.
