The rumor mill is slowing to a crawl with for the New York Yankees, who will enter Spring Training with some big-time additions to their roster. Juan Soto headlines a group of new additions for the Bronx Bombers, but there’s some speculation about whether the Yankees are truly done or not. Andy Martino of SNY hinted at the idea that Brian Cashman and the organization were not yet satisfied with their pitching additions, adding that he wouldn’t be shocked if they pulled off a deal during Spring Training.
Jim Bowden of The Athletic wrote that he believes the Yankees are the team that ultimately ends up with Blake Snell, although there are conflicting reports on that end. Bob Klapisch reported that Hal Steinbrenner had moved on from the left-hander, and the conversations about pitching additions have seemingly shifted toward the trade market.
Is Blake Snell Still in Play for the Yankees?
Blake Snell remains a free agent and doesn’t appear close to signing anywhere with just days remaining before Spring Training games kick off. It’s not as if he’s coming off of a down year either, finishing last season with the best ERA in baseball (2.25) and winning the National League Cy Young award. Settling for a short-term deal just seems illogical considering the fact that he’s likely only going to get worse next season, but this market has yet to budge for him and it doesn’t seem like that will change anytime soon.
The Yankees are among the teams who have been linked to Blake Snell, but it’s growing less likely by the day that they’ll make a sudden shift to add even more salary to their payroll after crossing the $300 million threshold. Scott Boras is searching for the money he’s asking for and won’t budge either, which has been his calling card for years, and it’s typically worked out for the player. Teams might be more stubborn than ever before, and this will shape up for an interesting and dramatic finish to the offseason.
Scott Boras still has four high-profile free agents on the market with Cody Bellinger, Jordan Montgomery, Matt Chapman, and the aforementioned Blake Snell all remaining available. It’s a standstill as the top teams on the market have acquired the players they were looking for and are now focusing on the upcoming season with their current rosters. Whether the Yankees are willing to swoop in or not remains to be seen, but there’s plenty of reason to believe they’ll stand pat and roll into the season with what they currently have.
Could they benefit from having Blake Snell? Absolutely, especially given their rotation concerns, but they won’t be offering the contract they did earlier in the winter that reportedly exceeded Carlos Rodon’s $162 million contract. If the Yankees add pitching, my hunch is that it would be on the trade market where they can add a pitcher that doesn’t cost much towards the Luxury Tax and could keep them financially flexible for the trade deadline.
To keep it simple; Blake Snell likely isn’t coming to the Bronx, but there’s no clear picture as to where he’ll land, and his market has seemingly disappeared.