Recounting the Angels' past pursuit of Blake Snell given his potential free agency

Blake Snell's agent, Scott Boras, thoroughly botched his clients' contract negotiations during the 2023 offseason. From Matt Chapman, to Cody Bellinger, to Jordan Montgomery, Boras severely miscalculated both the market's interest in his clients and the timing of the deals.

Boras' marquee client, Blake Snell, signed a two-year deal worth around $62 million right before the start of the regular season. His contract contains an opt-out, which Snell is reportedly likely to exercise. If Snell opts-in, the Giants would owe him $38.5 million for 2025. Snell had an offer from the Yankees in the $150 million range, but Boras rebuffed that.

The close proximity of Snell's deal to the regular season helps explain his suboptimal performance and injuries in the first half of the year. Snell allowed 25 earned runs in only 35.2 first half innings pitched. He had an abductor strain in April, then a groin injury in June.

Blake Snell might have agreed to his second year with the Giants if he did not drastically turn his season around during the second half. Snell pitched like a bona fide ace, holding batters to a measly .133/.223/.189/.412 slash line. He posted an incredible 103:27 K:BB, and only allowed 31 hits and 11 earned runs in 68.1 innings. Snell turns 32-years-old in December, has a relatively concerning injury history, and a vexing agent, but he should command a substantial contract on the open market despite organizations' justified fears of signing aging pitchers.

Blake Snell will never pitch for the Angels, despite the ace's preference to

Snell pitched with the San Diego Padres and thrived, especially in 2023 when he won his second Cy Young. Snell expressed heavy interest in returning to SoCal, this time preferring to pitch in Anaheim for the Los Angeles Angels. Buster Olney said that "Snell's preference -- strong preference -- is to go to the Angels," and he personally predicted the Angels would land the former Ray and Padre.

Perry Minasian was game. So, if the player and the Angels' general manager expressed mutual interest in a deal...what happened? Arte Moreno happened, obviously. Minasian and Mike Trout wanted to sign Snell (and slugger J.D. Martinez), but Moreno declined.

The story of the Angels' courtship of Snell is a mark of things to come. Heading into 2025 and beyond, the Angels will not spend significant money in free agency. Instead opting to devote their time and resources toward developing prospects and acquiring players on the margins. It stands to reason that if Snell strongly preferred to sign with the Angels he would want to this time around. However, there will be no Buster Olney prediction of an Angels deal with Snell, or any player worthy of tens of millions of dollars anymore. Angels fans should not expect star players to sign with their favorite club anytime in the immediate future, even if it's announced that stars want to sign with the club.

The Angels are devoted to a full rebuild from the bottom-up. Normally, even rebuilding clubs would want to sign players of Snell's stature. Not this one, though, even if the superstar player and general manager want to. The Snell situation is a sober reminder that Moreno runs this ballclub and fans need to get used to it.