Blake Snell unsurprisingly had a number of teams interested in him when he entered free agency after the 2024 season. What was surprising was that none of those teams were the San Francisco Giants, who Snell played for in 2024.
“The Giants didn’t even talk to me. It was surprising—I thought they really liked me," Snell said, via Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Snell said that he didn't even hear back from Giants manager Bob Melvin, his manager on both the San Diego Padres and Giants, despite their close relationship.
“I know Bob loves me, and I’m really close with Logan and Chappy," Snell said, via Slusser. "So I was shocked. I thought they’d come after me right away. I really liked it there. I was happy there. But they never even said anything to me.
“I texted Bob and he didn’t reply, and Bob always replies to me, so I kind of had a feeling," he added. "But it was weird, especially with all the other teams that were interested in me. ... There were a lot of teams after me. I just thought it was weird the Giants weren’t one.”
Snell did have a strong season with the Giants, too, particularly during the second half of the year. The two-time Cy Young award winner posted a 1.23 ERA over his final 14 starts of the season, and also recorded a no-hitter on Aug. 2 against the Cincinnati Reds. Overall, he finished the 2024 season with a 5-3 record, 3.12 ERA and 145 strikeouts over 20 starts.
Still, the Giants opted not to pursue bringing Snell back, and he instead signed a five-year, $182 million contract with the reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
Though Snell might have felt snubbed by the Giants not pursuing him, he has sounded excited about joining the Dodgers.
"It was really easy, just because me and [partner] Haeley wanted to live here," Snell said of the Dodgers in December, via ESPN's Alden Gonzalez. "It's something we've been talking about for a while. And when you look at the team, you look at what they've built, what they're doing, it's just something you want to be a part of."
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Blake Snell Was Surprised Giants Didn't Reply to Him Before Signing With Dodgers.
