Blake Snell rumors: Ranking 5 suitors as offseason slows to a crawl

1) The Yankees make the most sense as a potential Blake Snell destination

The New York Yankees made the decision to trade for Juan Soto who is entering his final year of team control before hitting free agency at season's end. Trading for Soto and not going all in feels like a mistake. The Yankees going out and getting Blake Snell would be them pushing all their chips forward to win right now. That's exactly what Brian Cashman should be trying to do.

On paper, the Yankees rotation looks good. Gerrit Cole just won the Cy Young. Carlos Rodon is a Cy Young caliber arm when healthy. Marcus Stroman is a solid innings eater. Nestor Cortes Jr. was an All-Star in 2022. Clarke Schmidt is a solid fifth starter. While things look good, the rotation is one full of question marks.

Rodon, Stroman, and Cortes all have major durability concerns. Rodon and Cortes in particular missed most of the 2023 season due to injury and struggled when healthy. Schmidt faltered down the stretch, posting an ERA of 4.94 in the second-half. How good will he be in 2024?

Adding an arm like Snell can give the Yankees some added depth which they need after executing the Soto trade, and can give them more of a trustworthy arm to pair with Cole at the top of the rotation. Snell has experience pitching in the postseason, and is familiar with the AL East dating back to his days with the Rays.

Yes, it won't come cheap, but it's not like the Yankees don't have money to spend. They just offered Yoshinobu Yamamoto a contract worth $300 million before he threw a single MLB pitch, and reportedly offered Snell a deal this offseason as well. Adding Snell can make the Yankees not only favorites to win the AL East, but potentially the AL Pennant. If he's pitching well, a duo of Cole and Snell is almost impossible to beat four times in a seven-game series. With so much on the line in 2024, it'd behoove New York to get this done.