Dodgers Blake Snell agrees to five-year deal

On By Littum

22:24: Snell will receive a $52MM signing bonus, reports Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times (X link).

22:04: The deal includes some deferred money, reports Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya (X link). The agreement contains no opt-out clauses, tweets Jon Morosi of MLB Network.

22:01: Blake Snell and the Dodgers have agreed to a five-year contract, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (X link). ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports (on X), that the deal, pending a physical, guarantees Snell $182MM. The left wing first revealed that he was joining LA in a Instagram posts Tuesday evening.

The defending champs continue to stock up on the offseason’s biggest move to date. It’s a much faster turnaround of free agents than Snell’s trip to the market last winter. The star southpaw was coming off a Cy Young-winning campaign during his first free agency outing. The long-term deal he sought didn’t materialize, leading to an extended free agent stint. Snell went unsigned in March before joining the Giants on a two-year deal that guaranteed him $62 million. and, more importantly, allowed him to opt out after the first season.

Snell had a dismal start to the season. Snell allowed more than one run per inning over his first six appearances. He landed on the injured list twice in the first three months while battling groin discomfort. As recently as mid-June, it looked like a near-lock that Snell would bypass the chance to return to free agency.

That all changed as soon as he returned from his second IL stint. Snell was the best pitcher in baseball from that point forward. Over his last 14 starts, he posted a 1.23 earned run average while holding opponents to a .123/.211/.171 batting line that looked like a throwback to the days when pitchers hit. Snell struck out more than 38% of batters over that stretch. He had five double-digit strikeout performances and fanned at least eight batters in 10 outings. Snell had the best two-start run of his career right around the trade deadline. He struck out 15 over six scoreless innings against the Rockies on July 27 before hitting the Reds with 11 punchouts at Great American Ball Park on August 2.

More to come.