San Francisco Giants Free Agent Ace Being Courted By American League Team

The San Francisco Giants would love to keep their left-handed ace, but he's already getting plenty of attention from other teams.

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The San Francisco Giants have one big question looming over their free agency decisions this winter as one of their pitchers is one of the most highly coveted players on the open market.

After a tough start to his first season with the Giants, including a stint on the injured list, Blake Snell was arguably the best pitcher in baseball down the stretch. Ending June with a dreadful 9.51 ERA, Snell put up a blazing 1.13 ERA over the final three months of the season.

Deciding to opt out of his two-year deal, which included a player option, Snell finds himself a free agent once again just one year after arriving to the Bay Area.

While the Giants would surely like to retain the services of the two-time Cy Young winner, it's going to be a complicated path towards making it happen. During an interview with the Baseball Bar-B-Cast show, ESPN insider Jeff Passan shared in a segment discussing the Boston Red Sox that Boston is engaged in speaking to Snell and actively trying to sign him.

Passan referenced the fact that while the Red Sox have some solid pieces in the rotation, they lack a true ace and it's prevented them from having any sort of recent success. This feels like the offseason for Boston where they finally go big for a free agent starter, and it could come at the cost of Snell leaving San Francisco after just one season.

According to latest predictions, Snell may not receive the mega deal he is hoping for.

Just last week, Tim Britton of The Athletic projected the ace to receive a four-year, $110 million deal for an AAV of $27.5 million. If that's the number he ends up signing for, it would be bitterly disappointing to see the Giants not match or even go a little bit over that. With the Red Sox seemingly hungry to win now, the final number could prove to be much higher.

It also should be considered that just because he spent his most recent season with the team, Snell does not necessarily have any loyalty to the Giants. As the third team he's played for, Snell spent just one season in San Francisco and is likely going to simply go to the highest bidder.

That still could be the Giants, but don't count on Snell taking any sort of hometown discount this winter.