Padres News: Blake Snell May Not Sign For a While, Says USA Today Insider

Could the Padres remain in the hunt?

Will Blake Snell pitch for the Padres this upcoming season? Is Snell instead destined to represent the New York Yankees or Los Angeles Angels? Will he go home and pitch in Seattle for the Mariners? 

At this point, no one knows the answers to these hypothetical questions. With that said, one MLB insider may have given us some insight into when Snell could ink a deal. 

Longtime pundit Bob Nightengale of USA Today wrote an article that offered 10 predictions for the rest of baseball's offseason period. 

Notes column: 10 predictions for the rest of 2024 offseason https://t.co/ydZVVT291Y

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) January 8, 2024

The topic of Snell and the Padres did come up within Nightengale's piece. Here's what he had to say on the subject matter: 

"Blake Snell will still be a free agent when spring training hits with teams continuing to balk at his asking price in excess of $200 million. The Los Angeles Angels are the strongest suitor at this juncture."

According to Nightengale, some of the big-money franchises (Philadelphia, both New York teams, Boston) "have shied away" from going all-out in landing Snell. Some of this allegedly has to do with Snell's history of not pitching deep into ball games. 

At 31 years of age, some clubs might be leery in signing any starting pitcher to a long-term deal exceeding more than the rumored $200 million Snell is allegedly seeking. 

Fun fact: there were 250 pitches thrown at least 500 times last year

11 of those pitches had a whiff/swing% of at least 45%

Blake Snell had 2 of the 11:
- Curve: 56.2%
- Changeup: 47.3% pic.twitter.com/az7cMKOmaQ

— Mike Kurland (@Mike_Kurland) January 8, 2024

The NL Cy Young award winner was fantastic last year -- going 14-9 with a 2.25 ERA. Snell notched 234 strikeouts in 180.0 IP. He also relinquished only 115 hits in the process.

There's no doubt Snell is the premier pitcher left on the market. It will be fascinating to see whether San Diego makes a late push to keep him in the fold. 

As the market continues to evolve, suitors could either emerge or disappear depending on the circumstances. If Nightengale's report is accurate, Snell's patience could pay off in a big way involving a team desperately seeking an upgrade within its rotation.