A look at runner-up choice Blake Snell

Rumors: Not only a great album, but also what the MLB offseason exists on. Now that we are all finished with the Shohei Ohtani free agency experience, all focus has shifted to where coveted starter Yonishibu Yammamoto will land. The 25 year-old stud has drawn interest from the New York Mets, Yankees, San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, and basically any team that has a pulse heading into next season. If you’re able to have your cell phone on your person at work, you most likely have felt the urge to refresh your favorite sports news app to see if he has signed somewhere. Instead, you have been fed some silly rumors that most likely have no credence to them, but are being sputtered out by the reporters who need clicks. Hopefully there is no plane tracking scenario involved in the pursuit to get the first scoop on Yammamoto’s chosen team.

One of the rumors flying around is that the Mets (who have been lauded as Yammamoto favorites and also belittled as long shots in the same offseason) have been linked to Blake Snell should they fail to court Yammamoto to Citi Field. This has caused a litany of reactions from Mets fans, ranging from disappointed to frustrated. Those are both valid reactions, but now that I have had some time to sit on the rumor, it could be an interesting move for the Mets to make. There are a couple of factors of why this is a move that could potentially work out for the Mets, but there are also factors that validate the feelings of frustration with being linked to him. Let’s start with some of the positives that come with potentially signing the 2023 N.L Cy Young winner.

Simply put, Snell can make bats miss at a tremendous clip. He finished second amongst pitchers in both total strikeouts and strikeouts per nine innings, and he also led the league in hits per 9 innings pitched. While the Mets had a strikeout machine in Kodai Senga last season, they were middle of the pack in terms of team strikeout statistics. Adding Snell into the mix will help the Mets miss more bats next season, which leads to more regular season success. A popular knock against Snell is that he does not last long into games, which is why many refuse to put him into the “dominant ace” tier of starting pitchers. While there is some validity to that point (he averaged 5.2 innings per start last season) it is important to remember that it is common now across the league for starters to go less and less into their starts. Last season, starters averaged 5.1 innings per start, so Snell is up to par with most starters in the game. If know going into a game that you are only going to get a guy for about six innings, wouldn’t it be a more comfortable prospect knowing that he is going to be elite during those innings?

As for the thorns on the Snell rose, more of them come with the organizational impact of signing him than the risk of him not performing up to last season’s standard. Snell rejected the qualifying offer from the Padres to become a free agent, which means he is going to come at a cost more than just his contract. If the Mets were to sign Snell, they’d have to forfeit their second-highest and fifth-highest draft picks according to Tim Boyle. While this is less valuable than the likely posting fee that will come with inking Yammamoto, it goes against the plan that the Mets are looking to build from within to have a sustainable winner. It also goes without saying that Snell, the premier pitcher on the market outside of Yammamoto, will come at a hefty price tag. Is handing a large contract to the MLB walk leader in a season that is supposed to be a transition to a championship window really a responsible path to go down?

While not the most responsible path, it could sure be a fun one. After last season, the fanbase deserves to root for a team that is competitive, and has more than one quality starting pitcher. At the end of the day, with as many playoff spots available as there are now, a rotation with featuring Senga and Snell could get you in. And as the Diamondbacks proved this past season, you just need to get in and get hot at the right time.