Padres Would 'Love' Reunion With Former Cy Young Winner: Report

Sam Garcia | Aug 17, 2024

The Giants’ starting pitcher, Blake Snell, garnered the attention of several teams at this season’s deadline. Despite multiple teams like the Padres attempting to acquire southpaw, San Francisco opted to keep Snell, at least for the remainder of the season. 

Snell, 31, is guaranteed a $30 million player option with the Giants for the 2025 season. His other option is to decline the contract with the Giants and elect free agency. Discussions regarding what route Snell will take next season point toward him exploring options with other teams, possibly a better National League West team. 

The Padres, Snell’s former team, have expressed interest in reuniting with the two-time Cy Young pitcher, according to the New York Post. San Diego was one of many teams to pursue Snell at the deadline, but after realizing the chances of actually landing Snell were slim to none, the franchise chose to focus on other options like Jason Adam and Tanner Scott.

At the end of last season, Snell elected free agency following a three-season stint with the Padres, who acquired him in Dec. 2020 from the Tampa Bay Rays. In his final season with San Diego, Snell’s 234 strikeouts ranked second in the National League while his 14 wins ranked fifth in the league. 

The Padres’ President of Baseball Operations, A.J. Preller has done a significant amount of work in the front office to build a deep rotation for the franchise. Since spring training, the general manager has obtained Dylan Cease, Luis Arraez, Donovan Solano, David Peralta, Jason Adam, Tanner Scott, Bryan Hoeing, and Martin Perez. All of which have largely contributed to the Padres’ recent dominance. 

San Diego has been finding a lot of success, especially since the All-Star break, adding Snell to the Padres’ rotation next season would be the icing on the cake. Three of the Padres starters – Michael King, Matt Waldron, and Cease – all have ERAs that rank in the top 20 among National League pitchers.

Cease, who the Padres acquired in March, has two more years of team control. Therefore, if the Padres can manage to land Snell, the franchise’s roster would boast the only two MLB pitchers who have thrown no-hitters this season. Cease threw one on July 25, and a week later, Snell followed suit. 

A Snell-Padres reunion would be an ideal situation for the franchise, but there is no way the Padres will be able to acquire Snell without a big offer. And, they will definitely not be the only team interested in the potential free agent.