MLB Rumors: Yankees-Blake Snell bummer, Braves-Acuña outlook, Cardinals swooping in?

MLB Rumors: MLB Insider pours cold water on Yankees possibly signing Blake Snell

Somehow, Blake Snell, the reigning NL Cy Young winner, is still sitting in free agency as the calendar has flipped to March. Opening Day is just weeks away, yet Snell doesn't even appear close to signing anywhere.

One team we know has been interested in Snell at least earlier in the offseason was the New York Yankees, but if what Jon Heyman of the NY Post says is true, it sounds like that match is not going to happen.

The Yankees could use a guy like Snell to add some stability to a rotation full of question marks. Gerrit Cole is arguably the best pitcher in baseball, but injury concerns revolving around guys like Carlos Rodon, Marcus Stroman, and Nestor Cortes Jr. are very real. To make matters worse, Rodon and Cortes in particular are coming off rough seasons when they were able to take the mound, and Stroman was ineffective down the stretch for the Cubs.

According to Heyman, Snell has made it clear to teams that he's willing to accept a deal similar to the three-year deal Cody Bellinger got from the Cubs, but that doesn't really work for a team like the Yankees who have already exceeded the top luxury tax threshold of $297 million.

If they give Snell a deal that guarantees him $30 million in 2024, they'd really be paying him over $60 million due to the luxury tax. That, in addition to the fact that New York would have to give up draft compensation and international bonus money to sign Snell, a player who rejected the Qualifying Offer, is just too much for them to handle for a player who could leave after just one season with the club.

The Yankees make sense as a Snell destination for a long-term deal, but who knows if that's even in the cards anymore. They really should be trying to do whatever they can to win in their only guaranteed season with Juan Soto, and adding Snell would obviously improve their chances. The structure Snell appears to be chasing makes the Yankees an extremely unlikely destination, unfortunately.