SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Reigning National League Cy Young winner Blake Snell has agreed to a $62 million, two-year deal with the San Francisco Giants after some late talks with the Yankees didn’t result in a deal, The Post has learned.
Snell’s deal with the Giants includes an opt-out after the first year. It is pending a physical.
With this blockbuster late-spring signing, the Giants form a superb one-two rotation punch, as Snell now combines with ace right-hander Logan Webb.
Snell, 30, is 71-55 with a 3.20 ERA in 191 starts over eight major league seasons, winning Cy Youngs in 2018 with Tampa Bay and last year with San Diego.
He was 14-9 with an NL-leading 2.25 ERA in 2023. Webb finished second in Cy Young voting later year.
The Yankees and Snell’s agent, Scott Boras, conducted renewed talks over the past few days, but they never got close to a deal after trying several avenues to try to blunt the 110 percent, fourth-tier tax the Yankees are confronting as a team above the final $297 million threshold.
Snell’s preference is unclear, though a couple ex-teammates surmised that he might have preferred to stay on the West Coast, and the Yankees wonder if that was a possibility, as well.
Boras and the Yankees were trying to devise creative ways to lessen the tax, but ultimately he was going to be quite expensive for the Yankees since they are one of three teams over the fourth-tier tax, with no obvious way to cut salary.
The Yankees will continue to pursue starting pitching but their options are limited, particularly since they are even less confident Jordan Montgomery, the top remaining free agent, is interested in returning to The Bronx.
Montgomery has been linked to his former Rangers team, where he helped them with their first World Series in 2023 with a big postseason performance, plus the Red Sox and Cubs, although it’s unclear if anything’s close with him.
The Yankees haven’t been able to get any traction in trade talks for Marlins star Jesus Luzardo or others, and the starters who remain on the market are more depth pieces, led by 2023 All-Star Michael Lorenzen and Mike Clevinger.
Former Cy Young winner Trevor Bauer has offered to take a deal for the minimum (plus incentives) to get back into MLB after serving the game’s longest domestic violence ban.
However, the Yankees have shown no interest in Bauer, and he and Yankees ace Gerrit Cole were not on friendly terms when they teamed together on what must have been an amazing UCLA rotation.
The Giants, meantime, have now committed more than $300 million to free agents this winter, with $100 million-plus being spent during spring training alone.
They previously brought in Gold Glove third baseman Matt Chapman, former World Series MVP Jorge Soler, 104 mph-throwing pitcher Jordan Hicks and solid backup catcher Tom Murphy.
While their spending pales compared to the rival Dodgers, who totaled over $1 billion for just two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani and coveted free-agent starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Giants were in second place among spenders this winter.
Though the Giants have been tagged as a team that has trouble luring free agents, they obviously did a great job gathering them this winter.
New Giants manager Bob Melvin endorsed both Chapman and Snell, who he managed in Oakland and San Diego, respectively.
While there were some whispers about Snell’s personality affecting his free agency, many who know him suggested that was a very unfair knock, and Melvin, who had two years in San Diego, told The Post only Sunday, “I want Blake to go somewhere he’s happy. He’s a terrific kid and a good pitcher.”
Apparently, he has done that now.