Texas Rangers Could Sign Another Cy Young Winner by Playing Waiting Game

The softening market for Blake Snell could eventually work in the Texas Rangers' favor in free agency.

The Texas Rangers, to this point, have kept their free-agent spending close to the vest. Between reliever Kirby Yates and starter Tyler Mahle, the Rangers have dropped a little more than $10 million for 2024.

It’s doubtful the Rangers are done spending. But it’s possible they’re not going to spend big — at least not the way some believed they might after winning the World Series for the first time.

But what if a starting pitcher fell into their laps? That could be the scenario when it comes to two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell.

Two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell could be an free-agency option for the Texas Rangers / © Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports

Ordinarily, Snell would already be spoken for. It’s not often a two-time Cy Young award winner — and the reigning NL award winner at that — hits the market.

But the only big-money deal agreed to so far is the seven-year, $172 million deal Aaron Nola signed to stay with the Philadelphia Phillies.

At the moment, most of the big-market teams are in pursuit of Japanese free-agent Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who could sign a deal worth close to $300 million.

Ordinarily, a deal like Nola’s would set the market. But it looks like Yamamoto might. When and if he finally signs — he has until Jan. 4 to get a deal done — those same teams could pursue another Japanese star, Shota Imanaga.

It all has the effect of pushing Snell down in the pecking order, and if Yamamoto gets the deal that some believe he will, would the teams that miss out on him simply shovel that money to Snell?

Maybe. But the trade market is robust, too. The Los Angeles Dodgers have a deal in place to acquire Tyler Glasnow. Plus, free-agent Rangers starter Jordan Montgomery remains on the market and would likely get less than Snell.

ESPN wrote recently that the market appeared to have “softened” for Snell. The thinking originally was that Snell might get a six-year, $162 million deal in free agency.

Now? The its possible Snell could get a shorter deal that would still carry significant money. But it would be more like three years and $100 million, with an opt-out that would allow Snell to re-enter the market after a season or two.

How would this benefit the Rangers? Texas did something similar with Nathan Eovaldi’s contract, albeit on a smaller scale.

Eovaldi signed a two-year, $34 million deal last offseason. It doesn’t have an opt-out, but it has a vesting option for $20 million in 2025 if Eovaldi pitches 300 innings in the first two years of the deal. (He threw 144 innings in 2023.)

A Snell deal could be for two or three years, perhaps $25-30 million per year, with an opt-out or a vesting option in Year 3. Snell made $16 million in 2023 with San Diego, so that would be a healthy raise. It would also be economical for the Rangers.

Why? Both Max Scherzer and Andrew Heaney come off the books after 2024. The Rangers are hoping to have Jacob deGrom and Mahle back at some point in 2024, as both are recovering from Tommy John surgery. There’s also no guarantee Eovaldi gets the vesting option.

There’s short-term security for Snell with a competitive team that would give the Rangers, potentially, three Cy Young winners in the rotation at the end of 2024 and certainly two of them in 2025.

But the Rangers, like other teams, will have to wait out a market focused elsewhere at the moment.

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