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The Dodgers won the World Series last season in spite of their shorthanded pitching. Next year, they hope pitching can be the key to defending their title. To that end, the Dodgers made a major move Tuesday night, agreeing to a five-year, $182 million contract with two-time Cy Young Award winning pitcher Blake Snell, according to multiple people with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly.
A winter after adding frontline arms Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow for more than $1 billion combined, the Dodgers have opened their wallet again to make another blockbuster addition to their starting rotation. Snell, 31, has been one of the top left-handed pitchers in the game during his nine-year career. Though he has only once been an All-Star the 6-foot-4 Seattle native won the American League Cy Young with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2018, the National League Cy Young with the San Diego Padres in 2023, and has amassed a 3.
19 ERA and 1,368 strikeouts over 211 career starts. Originally drafted in the first round by Tampa Bay in 2011 — when Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers’ current president of baseball operations, was running the Rays’ front office — Snell has flashed some of the majors’ best stuff in the last decade. He pairs his mid-90s fastball with a curveball, changeup and slider — all three of which registered whiff rates of 44% or higher last season.
He has averaged 11.2 strikeouts per nine innings in his career, the highest mark ever in major league history. And he has a track record of postseason success, with a 3.
33 ERA in 12 career playoff appearances. Durability and consistency have been issues. Snell has pitched more than 130 innings only twice (eclipsing 180 in each of his two Cy Young seasons).
And while he has posted a sub-3.40 ERA in a season five times, he has also suffered ERAs above 4.00 in three other campaigns.
Still, when Snell is right, there are few better pitchers in the game. And even though the Dodgers managed to piece together just enough on the mound in October to win a championship, they entered this offseason hoping to shore up their staff with an established, high-caliber arm exactly like him. The Dodgers made a late play for Snell late in his free agency last offseason, when his market failed to materialize as expected coming off his 2022 Cy Young in San Diego.
However, the Giants ultimately landed his services with a two-year, $62 million deal that included an opt-out this winter which Snell exercised. Snell’s 2024 season didn’t begin well. He missed most of spring training after signing in mid-March.
He had 9.51 ERA at the end of June, having made only six starts in the first three months because of multiple stints on the injured list. And at one point, he seemed likely to exercise his 2025 option, and try to rebuild his stock this coming year.
But then, Snell went on a tear during the second half, going 5-0 with an 1.23 ERA over his final 14 outings — including a no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds on Aug. 2.
That re-established Snell as one of the top arm’s on this year’s market, alongside Corbin Burnes and Max Fried. And it led to a signing Tuesday that, given the Dodgers’ flirtation with Snell last offseason, felt like a long time coming..
