Dodgers Flex Financial Muscle: Angels Lose Out on Top Target

The Los Angeles Angels have been relatively active this offseason. Although they have signed a handful of solid players, they have yet to sign a big fish.

Well, one of those big fish they had on their radar just signed with the defending champions.

Star southpaw Blake Snell has signed a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Snell and the Dodgers have agreed to a five-year, $182 million contract, pending physical.

The Angels were considered the favorite to sign Snell this winter.

Snell reportedly preferred to sign with the Angels, and ESPN’s Buster Olney said he believed Snell would end up there. The Angels were in need of a starting pitcher, and Snell would have been a great addition to their rotation.

Last offseason, the Angels also had a great chance to sign Snell, but instead, he signed a two-year, $62 million contract with the San Francisco Giants, which included an opt-out after the first year. Snell exercised the opt-out clause and chose to be a free agent.

Before signing with the Giants last winter, San Franciso admitted they feared the Angels would sign Snell.

The Halos could have easily matched that or maybe surpassed that total from last season. Instead, the Halos front office sat on their hands and watched another top-level free agent go by.

It’s unclear if the Halo could have matched the Dodgers’ offer, but money may not have played a factor this time around.

At 32 years old, Snell has established himself as one of the best pitchers in the past decade. He is a one-time All-Star in 2018, was named to the All-MLB First team in 2023, was the American League wins leader in 2018, was a two-time ERA leader, and pitched a no-hitter this past season, the first of his career.

This past season, he was stellar. Despite a slow start, Snell recorded a 3.12 ERA and 145 strikeouts in 20 starts and 104 innings for the Giants.

Although Snell is a stellar pitcher, there are times when he can be prone to walk batters and gets into a lot of deep counts. However, he is one of the top strikeout pitchers in the sport, and when he’s on, Snell is as good as anyone in the game.

There are still plenty of top available pitchers this free agency cycle, and we’ll see if they can sign at least one of them.