San Francisco Giants Left With 'Interesting Decision' Regarding Free Agent Ace

The San Francisco Giants new front office has it's first real test with their ace's looming free agency.

Sep 22, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Blake Snell (7) pitches during the first inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

The biggest question surrounding the San Francisco as free agency approaches is clear and will be a huge starting point for the new front office.

As Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report looked around MLB for one player that each team must prioritize, he landed on Blake Snell for the Giants.

Snell officially opted out of his contract on Friday, this means that he is officially a free agent and now the Giants must focus their attention on giving him a new team.

"Snell isn't a perfect pitcher, but he's won two Cy Young Awards and won't have a qualifying offer attached to him this offseason. That means any team that would sign Snell wouldn't have to give up draft compensation," said Kelly. "It also means that San Francisco—who did surrender draft compensation to sign Snell—wouldn't get anything if he left in free agency. So new president of baseball operations Buster Posey will have a very interesting first decision to make."

It seems as though the Giants front office is ready to compete, which means they will already need to open up the check book more often than they currently do.

If Matt Chapman got a big money extension during the season, there is no reason to cut corners for Snell.

The first couple of months of the relationship between San Francisco and the southpaw were awful, but a sustained turn around in the second half is what makes things interesting. It would be a shame to cut ties just as it started getting good.

Over the final 14 games of the season, the 31-year-old posted a 1.23 ERA and the team went 12-2.

The starting rotation surrounding Snell had it's own up and downs, but doesn't look to have anyone that is going to step up and become an ace in response.

Aside from the former Cy Young winner, Michael Conforto is the only other impact free agent that the team would even consider.

Given that Oracle park had a major negative impact on Conforto, a reunion there seems much less likely than with Snell.

The Giants will have to hope that the rocky start to the lefty's time with the team didn't leave things in an unrepairable state.

This decision will have a large impact on the start of the Posey era in San Francisco and will give the fans a sense of how far the team is willing to go to compete.