Blake Snell signed a two-year deal worth $62 million with the San Francisco Giants.
He rejected more lucrative offers before spring training, looking for a specific amount of money that teams just wouldn’t give to him.
He seemingly got some bad advice from his agent and instead of signing a deal well in excess of $100 million in time to get a normal spring training, he waited too long, teams solved their situations, and he ended up getting less money and ruining his pre-season preparation.
He didn’t face a hitter until very late in the spring, having signed on March 19.
Yes, he threw bullpens and tried to stay in shape, but there is nothing like facing quality hitters to reach top form.
The left-hander acknowledged his mistake in a recent appearance.
“Snell this last week said: ‘The one thing I would say is that big-league spring training, you need it. You have to go to spring training. I hope teams see that,’” MLB insider Bob Nightengale tweeted.
Players and agents will have to realize this fact too.
Snell and his agent Scott Boras could have gotten around $150 million from the New York Yankees and other interested teams, but refused to entertain the offer; instead hoping for over $200 million.
Not only is his contract far smaller than he hoped, but he is also damaging his future earnings by not being ready to get MLB hitters out.
He also got injured in his last start, and owns a 9.51 ERA in six starts.
It has been a disastrous year for Snell, and it isn’t getting better anytime soon.
