The New York Yankees could use more than recovery from injuries to cement their already strong pitching staff as championship caliber. A talent-heavy free agent class features one pitcher who has the arm to help the Yankees dominate the field.
Blake Snell One of Many Elite Free Agent Pitchers for the Yankees to Entertain
Jim Bowden of The Athletic listed the Yankees as one of a handful of teams that have the workings to add Blake Snell this offseason when listing his top 40 free agents of 2023-24.
Snell came in at No. 5 overall behind Aaron Nola, former Yankees pitcher Jordan Montgomery, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Shohei Ohtani — the latter three are heavily tied to the Yankees as well.
Snell led the MLB with a 2.25 ERA and struck out 234 batters in 2023. The former 2018 Cy Young award winner is on the precipice of adding a second trophy to his resume this year.
He maxed out with a 95.5 mph fastball and ranked in the 98th percentile with a 37.3% Whiff percentage. Next to Yankees ace Gerrit Cole and a returning Carlos Rodon and Nestor Cortes Jr., Snell would turn New York’s rotation into arguably the best in baseball.
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Yankees in Competition With Other Big Market Teams to Land Top Talent
Bowden gave the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox higher odds to snag Snell and predicted a five-year, $122 million price tag for the star pitcher. The Cardinals or Red Sox were also named as frontrunners to land all of the other pitchers ahead of Snell as well.
From owner Hal Steinbrenner on down to the players, everyone in the organization is on the same page that personnel changes must be made to avoid another playoff-free season in 2024. Snell provides a perfect option to the pitching staff and is not the only Padres player that the Yankees would be gunning for, with the team heavily linked to OF Juan Soto.
