Free agent ace signs with the Dodgers after preferring the Angels last offseason

Angels fans did not expect their favorite team to sign a true no. 1 starter via free agency, and that expectation has been confirmed. Blake Snell, a player who in March had a "strong preference" to sign with the Los Angeles Angels, is now becoming a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers...of course.

Blake Snell lost a World Series to the Dodgers in 2020, then spent the next four seasons pitching for teams whose fanbases loathe the Dodgers in the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants. Now, he is joining them after they won another championship. Make of that what you will. His former teammate, Matt Chapman, seemingly had some thoughts on his move to LA.

Snell is signing for five years and $182 million. His contract, much like Shohei Ohtani's $700 million mega-deal, includes deferred payments-- $65 million in total. How this deferred payments hack is allowed is beyond us, but Ohtani's deferred payments helped clear the way for Snell, and his deferred payments will lead to the next guy, and on and on it will go.

The best/worst part: the Dodgers do not even need Snell. Here were the options for the Dodgers' 6-man rotation before they acquired Snell: Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tony Gonsolin, River Ryan, Bobby Miller, Emmet Sheehan, Landon Knack, Dustin May, Justin Wrobleski (Gavin Stone will likely miss the entire 2025 season). They also utilize effective bullpen days, will likely bring back Clayton Kershaw, and are the heavy favorites to sign Roki Sasaki. The baseball world might see the first ever seven or eight-man rotation next year.

The Angels whiffing on Snell last offseason will haunt them

The Buster Olney report that Snell strongly preferred the Angels will now live on in infamy amongst Halos fans. Snell might have strongly preferred the Angels, but ended up signing two-year, $62 million contract with the Giants. He opted out after his first, and now last, season with San Fran. Less than a year after Olney's report, the Angels did not take a meeting with Snell and he signed with their biggest rival who play a few miles from them. Perry Minasian is doing a great job of team-building, but many pundits are pointing to the team's need for a huge splash if they are, indeed, going to contend next year. Snell would have been that splash, for sure.

Instead of attempting another courtship with Snell, the Angels opted for the best of the mid-tier starters in Yusei Kikuchi while also staying in the mix for Tomoyuki Sugano. The Angels' aggression this offseason is paying off in terms of acquiring impact arms and bats, but their biggest splash in free agency has likely already occurred. There could be a scenario where they bring in Corbin Burnes (SoCal guy), Max Fried (former Braves player), or Jack Flaherty (Jon Morosi said to keep your eyes on the Angels for his services), but now their markets are even more robust than they already were.

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