San Francisco Giants Ace Predicted To Sign with AL Champions in Free Agency

Even though the Bay Area faithful would love to keep this pitchers, the San Francisco Giants starter is projected to sign with the New York Yankees.

San Francisco Giants pitcher Blake Snell tossed a no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds on Aug. 2 for his first career complete game. / Katie Stratman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The offseason is in full swing, and the San Francisco Giants have more to do than most teams around Major League Baseball.

For a ball club looking to become a contender next year, the Giants need to do whatever it takes to improve their roster. On paper, San Francisco is a worse team than a campaign ago.

Blake Snell is on the open market, and while a reunion with the left-hander shouldn't be counted out, many believe he could be on his way out.

The pitcher had a slow free agency last winter, and there's a chance something similar could happen this time around. But the expectation is for him to finally get paid the money he was looking for a year ago.

The Seattle native has been one of the best pitchers in baseball for much of the past decade and deserves to get compensated because of that.

With the type of money Snell is expected to get, there are only a handful of teams that could realistically give him what he's looking for.

Among those teams include the New York Yankees, an organization that's proven its willingness to spend every step of the way.

The Yankees have their own free agency situation with Juan Soto, which will take priority until he makes his decision. Soto could impact players like Snell this winter, as teams will want to hear his decision before committing money to the two-time Cy Young Award winner and others.

Fox 43 in Pennsylvania, which provided predictions for all of the top free agents, projected the Yankees will sign Snell this winter to a five-year, $150 million deal.

That would bee $30 million per year, which would be just a smidge below the average annual value of the two-year deal he signed with the Giants. It's worth noting that the Yankees are the only team that made Snell a significant multi-year offer, a deal he and his agent, Scott Boras turned down as they hoped to get more.

For Snell in this market, $150 million over five seasons seems fair. It's possible he waits to see what free-agent pitcher Corbin Burnes gets, as his deal may push Snell's market value up a bit.

For the Giants, a lower price would benefit them again. In fact, San Francisco should be hoping that his free agency goes how it did last winter, as that'd give them an easy path to re-signing him.

Until that happens, the Yankees and others might have the upper hand due to having more money to spend.