1 lever the SF Giants will not be able to use to retain Blake Snell

The qualifying offer was set at $21.05 million for 2025. That option applies to most free agents in baseball but the SF Giants will not be able to issue a qualifying offer to Blake Snell this winter.

1 lever the SF Giants will not be able to use to retain Blake Snell

As expected, Snell opted out of the remainder of his two-year, $62 million deal, thereby becoming a free agent again for the second time in as many seasons. The left-handed hurler hopes to find a more lucrative deal this time around as his market was oddly tepid last year for a pitcher of his caliber.

The Giants will need to address the starting rotation this winter and retaining Snell should be a priority. Perhaps, they will need to make more than one notable addition given that the rotation was not a strength last season. Though, the Giants will likely hope that much of the improvement from this unit next year comes from some of their younger arms like Hayden Birdsong and Kyle Harrison.

Near the end of the season, the Giants hinted that they would try to sign Snell to a long-term deal this winter. With him hitting free agency, the odds of him returning are 50/50 at best. They will not be able to leverage a qualifying offer on him as the San Diego Padres did so last winter.

Players can only be issued a qualifying offer once in their career. For Snell, that has already taken place.

In some cases, if a player rejects a qualifying offer, it can be a lever by the incumbent team to try and retain the player. Some teams are reluctant to sign players who reject a qualifying because it means the loss of a high draft pick and international bonus pool money. In a way, it limits the player's market size, thereby making a reunion with the incumbent team slightly more likely.

That will not be an issue for Snell. The lefty pitcher completed another solid campaign on the mound as he tallied a 3.12 ERA in 20 starts for San Francisco. He got off to a slow start, but was arguably the best pitcher in baseball in the second half of the year as he posted a 1.45 ERA in his final 12 starts.

Even if the Giants cannot make a qualifying offer to Snell, the qualifying offer could be a topic for them this winter as they crossed the $237 million Competitive Balance Tax (CBT) threshold in 2024. As a result, the penalties for signing a player who rejects a qualifying offer this offseason will become stiffer.