San Francisco Giants Ace Named Potential Free Agent ‘Solution’ for California Rival

The San Francisco Giants Cy Young Award winner could be interested in the most money on the open market.

Sep 11, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants catcher Patrick Bailey (14) and starting pitcher Blake Snell (7) talk before a bass-loaded pitch against the Milwaukee Brewers during the second inning at Oracle Park. / John Hefti-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants look poised to lose Blake Snell in the coming months, as the left-hander is set to hit the open market.

All indications point to Snell leaving the Giants, leaving them with a sizeable hole to fill.

If San Francisco becomes willing to give Snell the type of money he could be looking for, there's a chance he might return. At this point, it's uncertain what he's looking for.

Is he interested in the most amount of money? Is winning a priority for him? Does he want to stay on the West Coast?

There are all questions that'll be answered in the winter.

If he wants money, the Giants will likely be outbid. If he wants to win, well, there are other places in better positions right now.

However, San Francisco might offer him the best opportunity to do both things. While their season hasn't gone as planned, in large part due to Snell dealing with injuries and having a brutal start to the year, there's reason for hope in the future.

Again, the Giants likely won't be the highest bidder. But if they offer him in the same ballpark as other teams and the others aren't in a position to win soon, there's reason for him to stay around.

The front office hasn't been cheap, so if they can finally land a star player in the offseason and supporting pieces, they aren't that far away.

In the event that he leaves for money, there could be many suitors. That might even include clubs that don't have a chance to win in the near future.

That's what Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report proposed on Thursday. Miller searched for "solutions" for seven teams around Major League Baseball, including the Los Angeles Angels.

He listed Snell as a potential help to all of the issues the Angels have dealt with in recent memory.

"In addition to that, the Angels need to go get an ace. Even with Rendon and Trout costing them more than $75M per year for the next two seasons, there's no question they have room in their budget to land a Corbin Burnes, Blake Snell, Max Fried or Roki Sasaki, if the latter is posted this offseason. One splash signing of a pitcher wouldn't fix them, but it's a start."

Los Angeles hasn't been afraid to spend money, but none of their moves have truly panned out.

It'd make more sense for an ace-caliber arm to look for different opportunities, but money is typically the deciding factor.

That could be the case for Snell this offseason.