Snell wasn’t right fit for Broadway
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Sorry Yankees, Blake Snell belongs here with the Giants. The Bay Area team staged a nice, casual press conference for him Wednesday in what is still the most idyllic spring training setting, and it felt right for Snell.
The Yankees engaged in at least three winter dalliances with the twotime Cy Young winner, and they seriously considered countering a proposal presented to them by Snell’s camp right up until the moment Snell agreed to go to San Francisco for $62 million over two years (plus the usual opt-out). But this is for the best, probably for Snell, who can exude California cool, and possibly also for the Yankees.
Snell is a unique talent — one scout says Snell has the best stuff of any active starter (Jacob deGrom is currently sidelined) — but New York isn’t for everyone. And some former teammates were predicting the native Seattleite wouldn’t love the cacophony and criticism that comes with The Bronx address.
The small Snell presser was lovely, but for the Yankees it brought home the point that they are running low on chances to solve their one gigantic issue.
Which brings us to the one realistic rotation option remaining on the market who could solve their desperate need for a top starter.
Yes, old friend Jordan Montgomery. While Montgomery isn’t the talent Snell is, he brings other advantages:
1. He’s more durable.
2. He’s younger.
3. He’s even better in the postseason.
4. He’s cheaper (and thus more tax friendly).
5. There’s no draft pick attached.
6. He’s New York tough.
That last one is the big one. While Montgomery pitched even better in St. Louis and better still in Texas, where he helped seal the Rangers’ first ever World Series title, he was very good in New York. And after he left, he had the stones to call out the Yankees for not believing in him. From here, that’s a good thing.
No one anticipated it could come to this.
The Yankees seemed to prefer Snell since their analytics folks have the same issues with Montgomery as when they traded him away, namely that he doesn’t throw especially hard, and doesn’t miss enough bats. Plus, true or not, word got out that Montgomery preferred to go elsewhere.
Anyway, if Montgomery and the Yankees aren’t each other’s first choices, they may have little choice now. Sources say they are back in contact. A gap exists, but at least they’re talking.
Montgomery’s camp compares him to Aaron Nola, who got $172 million over seven years. And while there’s a decent case to be made — Montgomery has actually been better since 2021, and was even better in the postseason — the market loved Nola more. And Phillies owner John Middleton, who might be baseball’s best owner, wasn’t about to let Nola go.
The Rangers have forever seemed like the most logical landing spot for Montgomery after he helped them win their first World Series. But while Rangers baseball people are strongly advocating for Montgomery, and he is believed to love the idea of a return, Rangers ownership has delayed making a serious bid.
Free agency generally has been tough in a year when teams spent $1 billion less than last year. But give Snell this: in the end he probably made the right call. He’s in the right spot for him.
Giants manager Bob Melvin, who was hired partly for his sterling reputation as a players’ manager, loves Snell from their two years together in San Diego (another place that’s probably better for Snell) and Melvin told The Post a day before Snell signed that he just hopes he goes where he’s happy.
While a few players stayed away from San Francisco due to the reputation of the city — their attempts to sign big names in recent years are documented — Snell should be happier there. (Personally, I think these players are nutty for not loving San Francisco, which is great, and getting better. “San Francisco is just like any other city, except it’s beautiful,” Giants left fielder Mike Yastrzemski eloquently put it.)
Snell said he didn’t have a geographic preference, but he likes Melvin, which means a lot to him.
“I’m at the field every day,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what city I’m in.”
Snell did note that San Francisco is closer to his Seattle home. I’d say that’s true, in both miles and temperament, too. He’ll like their writers much better. On average, they are much nicer, and in almost all cases, quite a bit less nosy, too.
The Yankees didn’t worry about whether Snell was personality fit. It was the money that killed their tries.
In the last one, in the two to three days before he opted for the Giants, they were considering a counteroffer to what the Snell camp proposed, and while they found some creative ways to (slightly) blunt the 110 percent tax that applies to the Yankees as a team over the fourth-tier, “Steve Cohen” tax threshold, ultimately the sides never got close.
This is for the best, for Snell certainly, and maybe even the Yankees.