Dodgers, Rangers Had Interest In Blake Snell Prior To Trade Deadline

Blake Snell was still wearing a San Francisco uniform once the July 30 trade deadline passed, as the Giants’ big asking price and the team’s own desire to retain its ace for the playoff hunt ended whatever chance existed of a blockbuster move.  Reports linked such teams as the Orioles, Padres, Yankees, Mets, and Cubs to Snell’s market in some capacity, and the New York Post’s Jon Heyman writes that the Dodgers and Rangers also among the clubs “to check in” on Snell’s availability.

The degree of interest shown for either club isn’t known, and Heyman’s “check in” phrasing implies something of a due-diligence exploration to see how open the Giants might’ve been about moving Snell, and what it might’ve taken to land the southpaw.  Snell would naturally be an upgrade to any rotation, particularly for teams like the Dodgers and Rangers who have been dealing with pitching injuries all season.

Considering how the Giants and Dodgers have made only two trades with each other since the 1968 season, it is hard to imagine San Francisco seriously considered dealing an ace pitcher to their arch-rivals down the California coast.  Even though Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi worked as the Dodgers’ GM before being hired in his current job, it’s probably safe to guess that whatever talks Zaidi had with his old boss Andrew Friedman about Snell were fairly brief in nature.  Los Angeles instead landed Jack Flaherty as its biggest pitching prize of deadline season, and will be counting on Flaherty and some injured pitchers returning from the IL to bolster the staff heading down the stretch and into October.

Landing Snell would’ve completely overturned an otherwise quiet deadline for Texas, as the Rangers brought Andrew Chafin and Carson Kelly into the fold in separate trades with the Tigers, while Michael Lorenzen was dealt to the Royals.  The modest set of moves underscored the Rangers’ uncertainty about making a push with a roster that has underachieved for most of the season.  Texas had gotten up to a 51-52 record on July 25, but have since lost nine of their last 12 games, probably closing the door on a defense of their World Series title.

Similar to the Dodgers, Texas has also been playing without most of its first-choice rotation for the better part of the year.  Several arms were slated to make returns at midseason, but Max Scherzer’s return was short-lived, and other pitchers (such as Jon Gray) have since gotten hurt in the interim.  A win-now move like acquiring Snell might’ve backfired if the rest of the roster wasn’t up to par, so it could be that the Rangers also had something of a cursory interest in Snell’s services.

Beyond just this trade deadline, however, these teams’ interest in Snell could extend to the offseason.  Snell can opt out of the second year of his Giants contract to re-enter free agency, which now seems to be likely given Snell’s incredible results since returning from the IL last month.  (As Heyman hears from two rival general managers, “it would take a ’catastrophic’ or ’debilitating’ injury for Snell to exercise” his 2025 player option and remain in San Francisco.)  Texas has a lot of money coming off the books this winter and Los Angeles is always open to signing top free agents, so these could be two teams to monitor if and when Snell hits the open market.