Details on New York Yankees Offer to Blake Snell Revealed; Another AL East Team Looming

According to MLB Insider Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the New York Yankees have offered a contract to NL Cy Young winner Blake Snell, and the Toronto Blue Jays are still looming.

We already knew that the New York Yankees reportedly offered National League Cy Young winner Blake Snell a contract before signing Marcus Stroman to a two-year deal.

Now, we know a little more about their offer and the Snell market, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today:

– Cy Young winner Blake Snell continues to seek a contract that will pay him at least $240 million, and now awaits to see what team blinks first. The New York Yankees made an introductory offer for nearly $100 million less, which was quickly dismissed, before they turned to Marcus Stroman to fill their vacancy with a two-year, $37 million deal.

While several teams still remain engaged with Snell while seeing if his price-tag drops, the Toronto Blue Jays in particular have been quietly monitoring his free agency. 

A few things to consider here:

1) Yoshinobu Yamamoto got $325 million this offseason after never having pitched in Major League Baseball, so big money for pitchers is clearly there. It's understandable that Snell wants big money, especially at this point in the offseason, but it seems unlikely he'll approach what he wants.

First off, recent big money deals for veteran pitchers haven't worked out great. Chris Sale's deal with the Red Sox was a disaster and he was just traded to the Braves. Carlos Rodon barely pitched in year one of a six-year deal last year with the Yankees and Jacob deGrom was hurt yet again in 2023.

2) As for the Blue Jays, they already have five starting pitchers (Chris Bassitt, Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios, Yusei Kikuchi and Alek Manoah). If they sign Snell, could they move Manoah? What does this do for their reported interest in Cuban free agent Yariel Rodriguez?

3) As for Snell, rumors have indicated that he wants to play for his hometown Seattle Mariners, but they appear unable to get close to anything in the ballpark for his services.

He is coming off a year in which he went 14-9 with a 2.25 ERA for the San Diego Padres. He won his second Cy Young Award, having also won the AL Cy Young award in 2018.

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