Blake Snell hopes to stay with Giants as MLB free agency looms

SAN FRANCISCO – It came as no surprise when Blake Snell was left out of Saturday's start in what may have been his last as a Giant. It's now commonplace for soon-to-be free agents to take it easy at the end of the year, especially those who have big options that could be affected by a fluke injury.

But as he stood in front of a stack of boxes on the way to Seattle, Snell said he pitched in a way Saturday even at the end of a disappointing season. If the team in the other dugout had been in contention, he would have taken the ball.

“If I had a chance to ruin someone’s playoff hopes, I would happily do it,” he said, smiling.

Snell tried this on the last road trip when he faced – and defeated – the Baltimore Orioles and the Kansas City Royals. He didn't allow a run through 12 innings and had 21 strikeouts, but the St. Louis Cardinals were out the same way as the Giants, so Snell stopped when San Francisco got home. The bigger questions have to do with his future anyway.

While it would have been nice for Snell to perform at Oracle Park again, he has a million reasons to be cautious.

Snell will opt out of the second season of his two-year contract and return to free agency. A year ago, he was coming off a Cy Young Award season, but he found the market unexpectedly cool. The Giants were able to sign him to a two-year, $62 million contract in late March, but Snell expects suitors to be more aggressive this time around. He'll certainly get his nine-figure sum, and given his talent – and the second half he's just had – it wouldn't be a surprise if the bidding approaches or exceeds $200 million.

As Snell's agent Scott Boras knows all too well, it only takes one owner. Maybe it's the New York Mets, who have the richest player in sports and a need for top-notch pitching. Maybe it's the Los Angeles Dodgers, who pursued Snell last offseason, returning to the postseason with a patched-up rotation. Or maybe it's the Giants, who have seen in recent months how influential Snell can be, especially in their stadium.

The Giants haven't expressed much confidence internally in a reunion, but Snell did his part on Saturday. He reiterated that he was open to returning and said he looked forward to speaking with president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi.

“I love it here. I think we can be really, really good,” he said. “I see a lot of potential and enjoy being here. We'll see what happens. It sucks, I don't like having to choose and stuff. I just want to be somewhere that wants me and loves me and I'm going to invest in myself to help them win. I hope we'll see.

The Giants hoped Snell would be the one to outperform them this season, but he had an unimaginably difficult first half after signing so late in the spring. When Snell arrived he felt he was in good shape, but soon discovered he wasn't ready. San Francisco wanted him to take the ball on their first road trip, elevating Snell to the active roster early in the season, but he didn't throw a pitch until the 11th game and wasn't good at first.

Snell had a 9.51 ERA in his first six starts and strained his adductor twice. The second injury gave him a fresh start and a mini-spring training, and since his return he has been the best pitcher in baseball.

In his last 14 starts, Snell posted a 1.23 ERA, 1.77 FIP and struck out 114 batters in 80 1/3 innings.

“I've seen some pretty good pitchers – Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling – I can't remember a run like that,” manager Bob Melvin said. “It was as good as anything I or anyone had seen. After a bit of a rough start and a few injuries, he's put in a lot of work to get himself into this position, so give him credit for that. “This is it.” was an incredible run.”

It seemed like there was a no-hitter guard every five days, and Snell actually threw his first pitch, one of several appearances in which he increased his pitch count and seemingly sent a message to executives across the league.

Snell said any team that gets him this offseason will find he's more durable than people think. He's been careful with his arm the last two seasons, especially with so much money at stake, and he said he's ready to remove the limitations.

“All I want to do is pitch,” he said. “It sucks too just because I have to be smart and that's exactly where I'm at right now, but once I sign the contract it's just pitch, pitch, pitch. I love doing this. That's all I really care about.”

It's up to front offices to decide how much they're willing to bet on these beliefs. By the time the Giants got the version of Snell they expected, it was almost too late for the team, but Snell says he has no regrets about how it all turned out. He expects to sign early this time and have a normal spring, but when the time comes for him as a Giant, he won't look back and wonder what could have been.

“I wouldn't change anything. It all happened for a reason. If I wanted to change everything that happened, I feel like that would be wrong,” Snell said. “Everything happened the way it should have happened, I believe that. I learned from that. I've never been in this position before. I was wrong when I said I was ready, but I truly believed I was ready. I worked as hard as I could outside of spring training and did everything I could to be ready. In the moments where I said I wasn't ready, there was no way for me to justify myself. “I’m ready,” and then you go against big league hitters and you go out and it was like, “Wow, I’m not even close to where I thought I would be.”

“And I’ve had these conversations. No, I wouldn't undo anything. Everything happened in the right way, the way it should have happened. I learned a lot, I learned a lot about myself and I'll just be smarter next time.” but I also hope I don't have to repeat it.

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