MLB Rumors: 3 best Blake Snell destinations after Ohtani deal
By Curt Bishop
The MLB free agent market will hopefully soon get moving now that Shohei Ohtani is off the board. That means that it won't be long before left-hander Blake Snell's market starts to take shape.
Not much happened at the Winter Meetings, but much of that was attributed to the fact that Ohtani had yet to sign and the relative secrecy of his sweepstakes. Now, teams interested in adding starting pitching can start to make a play for the remaining top starters on the market.
Snell remains one of the top unsigned free agents. Here are three teams that could be good fits for him.
3. Los Angeles Dodgers
After the Dodgers signed Ohtani to a 10-year, $700 million, who's to say they're done?
Even with the Ohtani signing, Los Angeles has some holes in its rotation. While Walker Buehler is coming back, they don't have another top starter to go next to him. Julio Urias is likely gone, while both Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin are recovering from Tommy John surgery.
The Dodgers also have plenty of money to spend due to the fact that much of Ohtani's money is deferred. Jeff Passan explained the contract on Twitter.
I’m going to explain why Shohei Ohtani’s $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers will not equal $700 million in terms of MLB accounting or the present-day value of the deal.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 9, 2023
When money in a contract is deferred, the competitive-balance tax number — the luxury tax — is…
In that case, the Dodgers have plenty of money available to poach the reigning NL Cy Young from their NL West rivals in the San Diego Padres. It's clear that the Dodgers are very serious about winning and contending for a World Series championship.
Snell may be the missing piece to the puzzle. The Dodgers would be getting a proven starter with great postseason experience and the ability to generate swings and misses.
Snell's market will be very competitive, but the Dodgers could be positioned quite well to make a play for the two-time Cy Young and add him to their starting rotation.