Atlanta Braves 'Showing Interest' in Trade for 2-Time Cy Young Winner

Trade rumors continue to swirl around the Atlanta Braves as Tuesday's deadline nears.

The Atlanta Braves are showing trade interest in San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Blake Snell. / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Braves were once rumored to be out on starting pitchers before Tuesday's MLB trade deadline, but they've since been linked to several top available arms.

And on Monday, a new name was added to the list.

The Braves are "showing interest" in San Francisco Giants left-handed pitcher Blake Snell, according to The Athletic insider Jim Bowden, who added the New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles and Houston Astros are also pursuing Snell.

"The Giants are doing their due diligence to learn exactly what they could get in return for Snell, who is coming off a dominating 15-strikeout performance against the Rockies on Saturday," writes Bowden.

Across four starts in July, Snell has pitched to the tune of a 0.75 earned-run average while covering 24 innings, though he's earned a no-decision in each outing.

For the season, Snell, who has made 10 starts, holds an 0-3 record with a 5.10 ERA in 47.2 innings pitched.

The 31-year-old Snell is the reigning National League Cy Young winner, having gone 14-9 with a 2.25 ERA last season as a member of the San Diego Padres. He also won the American League Cy Young award in 2018 with the Tampa Bay Rays, when he went 21-5 and boasted a 1.89 ERA.

Snell, who stands 6-foot-4, 225 pounds, signed a two-year, $62 million contract with the Giants in March. His season hasn't gone according to plan, as he missed the start of the season while ramping up, then spent a month on the injured list with an adductor strain and lost another month to a groin injury.

Prior to his recent surge, Snell carried a 9.51 ERA into July and hadn't completed five innings in a start. Since returning from the groin injury July 9, he's looked much more like the Cy Young-caliber pitcher San Francisco thought it signed this spring.

But as Snell has returned to form, so have the Giants, who have won four straight games and, as Bowden wrote, are only 3.5 games behind the New York Mets for the final wildcard spot. They're also just five games behind the Braves and may not want to aid Atlanta's push for a seventh consecutive postseason bid.

As such, the Giants don't necessarily have to move Snell, who is under contract through 2025 -- but Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos appears to be pushing for a starter, and if he grows desperate enough, may ultimately bring the star lefty to Atlanta.

"It takes only one general manager with an offer that’s too good to turn down to potentially sway this type of decision and make San Francisco trade him," Bowden wrote.

The 2024 MLB trade deadline is 6 p.m. Tuesday.