The San Francisco Giants may have kept Blake Snell away from their NL West rivals at the trade deadline, but they might not be so lucky this offseason.
The Giants entertained the possibility of trading Snell at the deadline, but held onto the former Cy Young Award winner. After missing spring training while hoping for a better contract offer, Snell began the season slowly, but has since picked it up.
Snell has gone 2-0 with only 14 hits and five runs allowed over his last seven starts. He has a 0.99 ERA during that span. The southpaw is reminding teams what he can do when he is on top of his game, which should help his stock after the season.
Though Snell has a $30 million option for next year, he will likely choose to decline that to sign a long-term contract for more money. According to the New York Post’s Jon Heyman, the San Diego Padres “love” Snell and will likely pursue him over the offseason.
The Padres traded for Snell prior to the 2021 season. He went 29-25 with a 3.15 ERA during his Padres career and won the Cy Young with them last season.
Whether the Padres will be able to afford Snell remains to be seen, but they will likely want to reunite with him.
San Diego entered Friday with a 69-53 record, which had them tied with Arizona for second in the NL West.