3 doomsday Blake Snell free agency destinations for the San Francisco Giants

Blake Snell's free agency this offseason is expected to go much better for him than his free agency in 2023. He went into last year's free agency period with his eyes set on a long term deal, but he couldn't land that. Instead, he landed the next best option: a short term deal worth a lot of money with an opt out.

Snell invoked that opt out and is set to get paid this winter. Spotrac predicts him to be worth a five-year, $131 million contract. If Snell wants the four- or five- year deal, he may be right in that $130 million range. But there's also a chance that he signs a three year deal worth $100 million. The opportunities are endless.

But for the San Francisco Giants, Snell's free agency is a complete disaster. They can't afford for him to sign within the National League, especially with how well he finished the season in the Bay Area.

Which three teams would be doomsday Snell landing spots for the Giants?

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3. New York Mets

One of the first teams that would be a threat to sign Snell away from the Giants is the New York Mets and their mega-rich owner Steve Cohen. The Mets need pitching, and The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal recently connected them to the Giants ace.

"The Blue Jays, another team linked to Soto, also are pursuing all three pitchers, according to sources briefed on their conversations. The New York clubs cannot be ruled out of the market," Rosenthal wrote.

With that said, the Mets reportedly have their eyes on the only two or three free agents bigger than Snell. This includes Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes and Pete Alonso. If the Mets have their way, they would actually sign better players than Snell, which is weird to say because there are only a handful of players in the league better than him.

Either way, Snell to the Mets is a doomsday situation for everybody. Why? Because he wouldn't be their only signing. Snell would just be a piece of the puzzle that Cohen and the Mets front office is building. Snell would lock down the Mets rotation as their ace and they could look to add another starter or two with him. Plus, he would return to the NL with the Giants.

2. San Diego Padres

Obviously, the worst landing spots in the Giants' eyes will be within the NL West. Snell could look to return to the San Diego Padres, if the Padres can come up with the money to compete with the offers from other top teams. That's a huge "if" in this scenario because Snell is demanding a lot of money and the Padres have hundreds of millions of dollars wrapped up in other players already.

But if the Padres front office can find some way to make the deal happen, it would be one of the worst scenarios for the Giants and the rest of the league. Snell would join a rotation with Yu Darvish, Dylan Cease and Michael King that's backed by an even better lineup.

The Padres came up just short of topping the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2024 postseason. Adding Snell to their rotation may have put them over the top. Who knows? Maybe if the Padres top the Dodgers in the NLDS, they go all the way and win the World Series.

Either way, San Francisco would hate to see Snell return to their own division in a different uniform.

1. Los Angeles Dodgers

Speaking of a nightmare scenario. The Dodgers have a real chance to sign Snell, and it would be the worst-case scenario for everybody in baseball besides the Dodgers and their fans.

MLB insider Ken Rosenthal recently revealed the Dodgers are not only interested in Snell, but they've already met with the former Cy Young winner.

"Blake Snell is not wasting any time. The free-agent left-hander recently met with the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers, according to sources with knowledge of the discussions," Rosenthal wrote.

If the Dodgers are able to land Snell, which they absolutely can afford, it would give them an opening day rotation of Snell, Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and whoever else you want to fill in the fifth slot. Either Ohtani or Snell would have to be the number two pitcher on the team. That's absolutely ridiculous.

And this scenario would destroy everything the Giants are working for this winter. San Francisco is trying to make it back to the promise land and eventually win the NL West and the World Series. The Dodgers are one of the only things standing in their way, but if Los Angeles adds Snell, it'll be doomsday in the Bay Area.