Snell’s Big Move: Two Time Cy Young Winner Ready to Shine With…

The Los Angeles Dodgers have once again gone strong in the offseason. The team snatched up two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell on a five-year $182 million deal from free agency. The southpaw is now ‘excited‘ to begin a new chapter with the team.

The 31-year-old pitcher took part in an introductory press conference with the Dodgers on Tuesday. During this, he donned the Dodgers colors for the first team and took the number 7.

In the conference, Snell expressed that it was a really easy decision for him to join the Dodgers. He explained that he and his partner, Haeley Mar wanted to live in Los Angeles, California. He further referenced the trio of Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman and claimed it was “tough” to go against them.

It was really easy, just because me and Haeley wanted to live here. It’s something we’ve been talking about for a while. when you look at the team, you look at what they’ve built… It’s just something you want to be a part of. Look at the first three hitters in the lineup. It’s tough to go against. So to be on the other side and know they’re going to be hitting for me, it’s pretty exciting.

Blake Snell said in the introductory press conference

The trio of Ohtani, Betts, and Freeman combined to hit 95 home runs in the 2024 regular season. They even had significant contributions in the postseason as Freeman was named the MVP of the World Series with four home runs.

As for Snell, he had a mixed 2024 season with the San Francisco Giants. Following a late start to the year, he struggled to perform in his top form. He even had two stints on the injured list.

In the latter half of the season, he picked his Cy Young Award form and ended the year strongly. He even threw his first career no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds in August. He later optioned out of his two-year deal with the Giants and become a free agent once again.

Blake Snell reflects on deferring money from his contract

The term deferred money has been used on several occasions in recent times with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The team has once again had a deferral while signing a new contract. Blake Snell reflected on this hot topic during his introductory press conference.

Snell got a $52 million signing bonus when he penned down the 5-year, $182 million deal with the team. He has a total of $66 million in deferrals.

As per Ronald Blum of the Associated Press , the former San Diego Padres star will have yearly salaries of $26 million, of which $13.2 annually will be deferred. The deferred money will be paid in installments of around $5.5 million from 2035 to 2046.

Snell though is comfortable with this and claimed that he is more focused on playing than the actual money.

I think it’s just how it all played out. It just played out the way that people around me felt comfortable with. I felt comfortable with. They felt comfortable with. We talked. Found something that could work for both of us and it’s kind of how we went with it. But, yeah, I’m more focused on playing than money.

Blake Snell said

Following Snell’s signing, the Dodgers extended the contract of Tommy Edman as well. His contract also has some deferred money, something that left the fans angry.

This takes the total bill of the Dodgers in deferrals to over $1 billion. Most of this comes from the deal Shohei Ohtani signed last season. The Japanese two-way star has $680 million in deferrals that will be paid from 2034-45.