Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-Time Cy Young Blake Snell Agree to Massive Long-Term Deal

Blake Snell will continue his trip around the NL West by joining the Los Angeles Dodgers, giving the defending World Series champions yet another dangerous arm in their rotation.

Sep 22, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Blake Snell (7) pitches during the first inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Dodgers have signed All-Star starting pitcher Blake Snell, according to multiple reports.

Snell set the rumor mill ablaze by posting a picture of himself photoshopped into a Dodgers uniform on Instagram on Tuesday night. Shortly after, MLB.com's Mark Feinsand reported that Snell had inked a five-year deal with the defending World Series champions.

ESPN's Jeff Passan later added that Snell's deal was worth $182 million, while The Athletic's Fabian Ardaya noted that the contract included "some" deferred money. The New York Post's Jon Heyman reported that Snell would be receiving a $52 million signing bonus, though.

According to MLB Network's Jon Morosi, the deal does not include any opt-outs.

The contract is still pending a physical.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Blake Snell (@snellzilla4)

Snell was a free agent last winter as well, ultimately settling for a one-year, $32 million contract with the San Francisco Giants in mid-March. He declined his $30 million player option for 2025 and decided to hit the open market again, this time to much better results.

The left-hander, who is set to turn 32 years old next week, has been one of baseball's most dangerous pitchers ever since he broke into the big leagues with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2016. He won AL Cy Young in 2018 and helped the Rays claim the AL pennant in 2020, before they fell to the Dodgers in the World Series.

Snell eventually got dealt to the San Diego Padres ahead of the 2021 campaign, and he continued to dominate there as well. In 2023, he was named NL Cy Young after boasting the lowest ERA and highest WAR in the league for the second time in his career.

While Snell didn't earn any Cy Young votes in his lone season with the Giants, he did post a 3.12 ERA, 1.048 WHIP, 12.5 strikeouts per nine innings and 2.1 WAR in 2024. He also recorded his first career no-hitter in August.

Snell is 76-58 with a 3.19 ERA, 1.217 WHIP and 23.4 WAR for his career. His 11.2 strikeouts per nine innings are the most by any qualified pitcher in MLB history.

However, Snell has never thrown more than 181.0 innings in a single season, and he has only passed 130.0 frames twice in nine years. It isn't as if he has faced major surgeries, either – just bumps, bruises and load management.

Still, the Dodgers are adding a two-time Cy Young to a roster that just won a championship in dominant fashion.

Los Angeles was without Clayton Kershaw, Tyler Glasnow, Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, Emmet Sheehan, Gavin Stone and River Ryan down the stretch in 2024, and yet they still emerged with a title. Walker Buehler, rookie Yoshinobu Yamamoto and trade deadline acquisition Jack Flaherty made up the rotation in the postseason, and they each did enough to get the Dodgers over the finish line.

While Kershaw, Glasnow, May and Gonsolin are expected to be ready to go by Opening Day, Buehler and Flaherty are free agents. Sheehan, Stone and Ryan could open the year on the shelf as well, while Shohei Ohtani may not be ready to pitch right away.

The Dodgers countered all those question marks by making the biggest splash of the offseason so far, which has been a habit of theirs as of late. After trading for Mookie Betts in 2020, signing Freddie Freeman in 2022, then signing Ohtani, Yamamoto and Teoscar Hernández while trading for Glasnow in 2024, it's only fitting that they open their 2025 offseason with a bang by poaching Snell from a division rival.

So despite Los Angeles' astronomical payroll continuing to grow, the rich just keep getting richer.

Per Feinsand, the Dodgers beat out the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles in the Snell sweepstakes. Max Fried and Corbin Burnes now stand out as the top starters left in free agency, alongside 23-year-old Japanese ace Roki Sasaki.

Follow Fastball On SI on social media

Continue to follow our Fastball On SI coverage on social media by liking us on Facebook and by following us on Twitter @FastballFN.

You can also follow Sam Connon on Twitter @SamConnon.