Angels Lose Top Free Agent Target to Dodgers in Nearly $200 Million Deal

Ricardo Sandoval | Nov 26, 2024

San Francisco Giants teammates congratulate pitcher Blake Snell after he threw a no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. / Katie Stratman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Angels have been extremely active this offseason. Although they have signed a handful of solid players, they have yet to sign a big fish.

Well, one of those big fish they had on their radar just signed with the defending champions.

Star southpaw Blake Snell has signed a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Snell and the Dodgers have agreed to a five-year, $182 million contract, pending physical. 

ESPN's Jeff Passan shared the news via Twitter/X.

Left-hander Blake Snell and the Los Angeles Dodgers are in agreement on a five-year, $182 million contract, pending physical, sources tell me and @jorgecastillo. The World Series champions get the two-time Cy Young winner in the first nine-figure deal of the winter.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 27, 2024

The Angels were considered one of the top landing spots to sign Snell this winter.

The Angels were in need of a starting pitcher, and Snell would have been a great addition to their rotation. 

Last offseason, the Angels also had a great chance to sign Snell, but instead, he signed a two-year, $62 million contract with the San Francisco Giants, which included an opt-out after the first year. Snell exercised the opt-out clause and chose to be a free agent.

Before signing with the Giants last winter, the Angels were among the top landing spots\.

The Halos could have easily matched that or maybe surpassed that total from last season. Instead, the Halos front office sat on their hands and watched another top-level free agent go by. 

It's unclear if the Halos could have matched the Dodgers' offer, but money may not have played a factor this time around. The Angels also recently agreed to a three-year, $63 million deal with left-hander Yusei Kikuchi, which could have taken them out of the running for Snell.

At 32 years old, Snell has established himself as one of the best pitchers in baseball the past decade. He is a one-time All-Star in 2018, was named to the All-MLB First team in 2023, was the American League wins leader in 2018, was a two-time ERA leader, and pitched a no-hitter this past season, the first of his career. 

This past season, he was stellar. Despite a slow start, Snell recorded a 3.12 ERA and 145 strikeouts in 20 starts and 104 innings for the Giants. 

Although Snell is a stellar pitcher, there are times when he can be prone to walk batters and gets into a lot of deep counts. However,  he is one of the top strikeout pitchers in the sport, and when he's on, Snell is as good as anyone in the game.

The Angels got Kikuchi, but could still use another starting pitcher. It won't be Snell, though, as he's heading to Los Angeles to join the defending champs.