Could the Padres Re-Sign Blake Snell? GM AJ Preller Answers the Question

Blake Snell remains a free agent as Spring Training begins across the league.

With Spring Training beginning for all teams across Major League Baseball, there is one big free agent who is still unsigned.

Blake Snell, the 2023 National League Cy Young winner, remains without a team. What are the chances that he could make a return to San Diego?

General manager A.J. Preller was asked about bringing Snell back and he played coy by avoiding the actual question and making a general statement on Tuesday.

"He can help any team. We've all seen it the last three years. He's incredibly talented. We never really comment on any one free agent but Blake will help anybody. He's a super talented pitcher and any team would be good to have Blake."

A.J. Preller via 97.3 The Fan SD

The quote in its entirety is in the video below, but Preller goes on to say that discussing specific free agents is an internal conversation and that they will continue looking at options to fill certain roles.

AJ Preller was asked if there's any chance of the team resigning Blake Snell with him still being available on the free agent market: pic.twitter.com/evQXD0oAoB

— 97.3 The Fan (@973TheFanSD) February 13, 2024

The Padres only have two starters from last year's rotation, Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove, but Preller is excited about the group they have in San Diego. 

"We have a lot of guys that we think are going to step up and perform well for us this year. I think that will be a big part of the camp, evaluating that group and sorting through and see how close some of our prospects are and seeing which guys do take a step for us."

A.J. Preller via 97.3 The Fan SD

It sounds like the Padres are going to depend on unproven talent to make up for Snell as of now, and if they are thinking about bringing back their ace, they aren't going to tell anyone outside of their internal bubble.