Tea leaves suggest that Blake Snell has thrown his last pitch for SF Giants

The SF Giants may want to bring back Blake Snell in free agency, but it seems unlikely. If one reads the tea leaves from rumors about payroll limitations and statements from agent Scott Boras, it certainly seems Snell is going to depart.

The Giants signed Snell to a 2-year $62 million contract ahead of the 2024 season. The deal included an opt out after the first season and even upon signing the deal everyone expected Snell to opt out and test the market again.

Blake Snell seems very likely to depart the SF Giants

That came into question a little bit when he struggled mightily in the first half of the season and dealt with injury. But he rebounded with a dominant second half that reminded everyone why he is a 2-time Cy Young Award winner. Now, after him opting out he enters the market with a lot of momentum and plenty of teams ready to throw money at him.

The Giants may be one of those teams. They could certainly use as strong of a rotation as possible especially after 2024 in which they had to deal with so many injuries in their rotation.

However, with reporting out there that the Giants are looking to cut payroll in 2025 it makes it seem much less likely that Snell will return. He will probably receive a contract that gives him $30-40 million per year and it does not seem like the Giants are keen on a deal like that.

Plus, agent Scott Boras recently made some comments when asked about Snell's potential return to the Giants that did not inspire a ton of confidence. He said staying on the West Coast is not a priority for Snell and used the past tense when talking about his time with the Giants that made it seem like a reunion was unlikely.

Really, the most surprising thing at this point would be Snell returning to the Giants. It just does not seem like there is the will from the Giants to make it happen nor does there seem like much desire from Snell to return.

It is a shame because Snell showed how good he can be in a Giants uniform in the second half of the season. But it seems like the Giants are simply going to have to make do with the rotation arms that they currently have.