MLB Rumors: Yankees pulled their Blake Snell offer for a really good reason

The New York Yankees offered Blake Snell a six-year, $150 million contract earlier this spring, only to be turned away. That's why, when Snell signed a two-year, $62 million deal with the San Francisco Giants on Monday night, many wondered why the Yankees didn't get back in the chase and increase their offer.

While we'll never really know what happened behind the scenes, Bob Nightengale reported that Brian Cashman and Co. never made another formal offer to Snell after he turned down the $150 million deal.

For the Yankees to pull their offer is an odd tactic, but also an understandable one. Snell and Scott Boras sat on this deal for months, only for the Yankees to add more talent to the rotation instead. That offer is no longer viable, and any signing of Snell at his price point would have put New York well over the second tier of the luxury tax.

Essentially, the Yankees would have paid 110 percent tax on Snell's contract.

Even for one of the most valuable organizations in sports, money does eventually come into play. Per spotrac, the Yankees current payroll sits at over $290 million, which is the highest in MLB.

Yankees do need to add some pitching after Gerrit Cole injury

While Blake Snell was not a possibility to replace Gerrit Cole atop the Yankees rotation, several available starting pitchers could fit the bill. Jordan Montgomery is out of the Yanks price range, so a reunion seems unlikely. Michael Lorenzen, who made the AL All-Star team in 2023, is available for a discount in comparison and just threw for teams on Monday.

Cole is expected to miss 1-2 months, and in the meantime the Yankees will roll out a rotation led by Carlos Rodon, Marcus Stroman and Nestor Cortes, among others. Signing Lorenzen for depth purposes would help greatly, even if the Yankees have to flirt with a new tax bracket (but ideally not go over it).