World series or bust: Blake Snell’s mission with the Dodgers

The Los Angeles Dodgers made the first major splash of the offseason by signing Blake Snell to a five-year, $182 million contract.

Snell’s deal includes a $52 million signing bonus, deferred salary and a limited no-trade clause.

The addition of Snell gives the Dodgers the frontline starting pitcher they were seeking this winter. He joins a projected 2025 rotation that is set to include Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and eventually Shohei Ohtani, among others.

Snell introduced himself to Dodgers fans and said he is looking forward to helping the franchise win more World Series titles in a video shared by the team:

“What up Dodgers fans? It’s Blake Snell here. Really excited to be a Dodger. Can’t wait to win more championships with you guys and see you all at Dodger Stadium.”

Snell is entering his 10th MLB season and has only pitched in one World Series to this point, which came four years ago with the Tampa Bay Rays. Coincidentally that came against the Dodgers, whom he held to three runs in 10 innings across two starts.

Rays manager Kevin Cash infamously removed Snell after he gave up a one-out single to Austin Barnes in the sixth inning of Game 6. Tampa Bay was leading 1-0 at the time, but Mookie Betts greeted the pitching change with a game-tying RBI double and the Dodgers went on for a 3-1 clinching win.

Snell has enjoyed pitching at Dodger Stadium in his career, going 1-0 with a 2.03 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 11.3 strikeouts per nine over seven starts.

The left-hander got off to a slow start last season but put together a tremendous second half. He went 5-0 with a 1.45 ERA and 0.85 WHIP in 12 starts after the All-Star break.

Snell finished 5-3 with a 3.12 ERA, 2.43 FIP and 1.05 WHIP across 20 starts for the San Francisco Giants this year while posting a 24.2% strikeout to walk ratio.

Blake Snell’s goal was sign ‘as early as possible’

Despite coming off a second career Cy Young Award, Snell wasn’t the subject of any bidding war or significant interest last offseason. That amounted to not signing with the Giants until after Spring Training began.

Upon reaching the open market for a second consecutive offseason, Snell had a goal of signing as early as possible to avoid a repeat of last winter.