Dodgers sign Blake Snell to massive five-year deal
The 2023 Cy Young Award winner will get $182 million from the reigning World Series champions.
The first major domino in the free agent starting pitching market has fallen. ESPN's MLB insider Jeff Passan reports the Los Angeles Dodgers have agree to a five-year, $182 million deal with left-hander Blake Snell.
Snell was one of the Boras Four, along with current Diamondback Jordan Montgomery, who didn’t sign until March 2024. He signed a two-year deal with the San Francisco Giants for $62 million with an opt-out after the first season. After pitching to a 3.12 ERA in 20 starts, he triggered the opt-out and landed the big contract he could a year ago.
With Snell in tow, the Dodgers feature one of the most dangerous rotations in all of MLB. Here’s how it projects in 2025:
- RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto
- RHP Tyler Glasnow
- LHP Blake Snell
- RHP Shohei Ohtani
- RHP Tony Gonsolin
It is a very expensive rotation for the Dodgers, who are now paying an average of $164.5 million per season for that starting five. For comparison, the Diamondbacks’ entire 2024 payroll is estimated to be around $173 million by Roster Resource.
It points to the difference between the two franchises. Arizona consistently rates in the bottom 10 in revenue, while Los Angeles is one of MLB’s most valuable franchises. Arizona will have more than their hands full to try to keep up with the Dodgers in the coming years.
Unsurprisingly, the heavy-spending Dodgers were the best team money could buy in 2024, as they crushed the New York Yankees in five games. With this rotation, the Dodgers, on paper, are perhaps the best team money could buy in modern history. They are now at the top of the list of teams to not only win a pennant, but possibly the 2025 World Series.
Snell is a two-time Cy Young Award winner, taking the American League honors in 2018 and the National League in 2022. He is one of seven pitchers in the history of the award to win in both leagues, joining Gaylord Perry, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Roy Halladay, and Max Scherzer. Five of those six pitchers are in the MLB Hall of Fame, with Scherzer a future first-ballot Hall of Famer once his career runs its course.
It’s too early to make a case for Snell getting enshrined in Cooperstown, but at the same time, it’s not unreasonable to believe he could be on track for such honors if he pitches excellent in his time with the Dodgers.
This also serves as bad news for the Diamondbacks, who have fared poorly against Snell in their time in the National League West. Since joining the division ahead of the 2022 season, the left-hander is 4-2 with a 2.25 ERA and a 66/17 strikeout-to-walk ratio in nine starts with the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants. Only once have they scored more than two runs, scoring five on him on April 19th this season.
While it seems unlikely that the D-backs will have a shot at winning the division any time soon with the super team the Dodgers have assembled, they’ve still got to play the games.
