Blake Snell Update: Two-time Cy Young Award winner opts out of Giants deal, becomes free agent

For the second offseason in a row, Blake Snell will become an unrestricted free agent. On Friday, the two-time Cy Young Award winner decided to decline his player option with the San Francisco Giants for the 2025 season, instead choosing to hit the open market. Although a major update, it is not a surprising one given the disappointment of last offseason for Snell.

Coming off a National League Cy Young Award-winning season in 2023, many expected Blake Snell to land a lucrative contract in free agency, but that was not the case. The veteran pitcher's free agency lasted longer into the offseason than expected, instead settling for a two-year, $62 million deal with the San Francisco Giants.

As part of the two-year deal with the Giants, Snell and his agent Scott Boras included an opt-out clause for this exact scenario. Now that he has exercised that clause, he will look for a deal more in line with the one he was seeking last offseason. By opting out of his contract, Snell will forfeit $30 million as he seeks a new deal with more years of security.

Even though Snell was unable to secure a long-term, lucrative contract after coming off a Cy Young Award-winning season, he will test the market yet again. Snell struggled with both injuries and poor performances at the start of the 2024 campaign, however, he was able to bounce back by the end of the year.

The 31-year-old finished with a strong 3.12 ERA with 145 strikeouts and 1.045 WHIP over 104.0 innings of work. Although he dealt with health issues, he should still have plenty of suitors vying for his signature depending on his asking price.

Blake Snell will join a solid starting pitcher market in free agency

While there will no longer be sweepstakes for players such as Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Snell will join a solid free-agent class of starting pitchers looking for new deals.

Max Fried, Corbin Burnes, Jack Flaherty, and Shane Bieber are all unrestricted free agents, and while there is a chance they will re-sign with their current clubs, they will also be competition on the open market.

Given his age and injury history, it remains to be seen how much money and how many years Blake Snell will be able to secure. All that being said, he is a two-time Cy Young winner entering a market with a number of clubs looking to bolster their pitching rotations.