Legendary SF Giants first baseman sounds off on top offseason target

One of the biggest offseason priorities for the SF Giants will be to sign starting pitcher Blake Snell to a contract extension. That is, of course, unless you ask former Giants first baseman J.T. Snow.

In a recent radio appearance, Snow made it clear that he does not think the Giants should pursue an extension for Snell.

J.T. Snow sounds off on SF Giants ace Blake Snell

He gave two reasons why. The first is because he was upset that Snell skipped his final start of the year. This reason is not that valid because Snell gave very fair reasoning for why he did not want to make his final start. He noted that the game had no playoff implications for either the Giants or St. Louis Cardinals and made clear that if there were playoff implications he certainly would have pitched.

From Snell’s perspective, there was no point in risking injury in a game that did not matter all that much in the grand scheme of things. Plus, by sitting the game out he gave an opportunity to Tristan Beck who certainly needed that start more than Snell especially since Beck was coming back from injury and looking to gain some confidence.

Snow’s second reason is more valid. He noted that sizable contracts to aging pitchers have a tendency to not always work out. Giving Snell a massive contract that extends into his late 30’s would definitely be a risky move for the Giants. He could get injured or lose his velocity and become a much less effective pitcher in a few years.

At the same time, the Giants could really use a pitcher of Snell’s caliber in the rotation. A starting rotation in 2025 consisting of Logan Webb, Robbie Ray, Jordan Hicks, Kyle Harrison, and Hayden Birdsong sounds decent, but adding Snell to that mix makes the rotation much more formidable. 

Snow has also been vocal about his desire for a job in the Giants organization. He spoke about this last year too. Snow is without question a franchise legend and fan-favorite, but he may not be doing himself any favors by bad-talking a big priority for the Giants this offseason.

Nonetheless, Snow deserves a role in the organization so we will see if Buster Posey is more amenable to him joining the organization in some capacity than Farhan Zaidi was.