Dodgers reportedly shunning this pitcher in free agency

“The Dodgers are showing interest in seemingly every pitcher but Blake Snell,” Jon Heyman of the New York Post. This latest rumor runs counter to Heyman’s own report from a month ago suggesting that Los Angeles was one of the teams in on the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner.  While Heyman didn’t go into specifics about why Snell may no longer be on the Dodgers’ radar, obviously much has changed for L.A. within the last month — namely the Shohei Ohtani signing and (on the more immediate pitching front) the impending trade and extension involving Tyler Glasnow.

Since Los Angeles exceeded the luxury-tax last season, the Dodgers had to give up $1M in international bonus pool money and their second- and fifth-highest picks in the 2024 draft as compensation for Ohtani, who rejected the Angels’ qualifying offer.  Snell also rejected a QO from the Padres. So the thought of giving up two more picks to add Snell might simply not be palatable for the Dodgers.  

While Snell’s market has been a little less clear than other top pitchers on the free-agent market, such clubs as the Giants, Red Sox and Padres have all been linked to Snell at various points, and it remains to be seen what other suitors might emerge once the likes of Yoshinobu Yamamoto or Jordan Montgomery are off the board.  The Dodgers continue to be involved in the hunt for Yamamoto and could pursue other trade options beyond Glasnow in order to address the lack of proven depth in their rotation.

More from around the NL West…

• The Giants remain interested in potentially re-signing Sean Manaea, The San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser reports.  There hasn’t been much buzz on the left-hander since he opted out of the final year (and a $12.5M salary) of his previous contract with San Francisco to test the open market, though it stands to reason that Manaea might get more looks as more and more free agent pitchers come off the board.  Likewise, the Giants’ pitching needs haven’t really changed since the offseason began, and Manaea might be a reasonable addition even if they did land Yamamoto or Snell considering that the Giants could deal from their crop of young pitchers to bolster their lineup.  Manaea had a 4.44 ERA and an above-average 25.7% strikeout rate over 117 2/3 innings for the Giants last season, working in a modified swingman role as a starter, bulk pitcher, or piggyback starter.
• Eduardo Rodriguez’s past history with Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen and manager Torey Lovullo helped pave the way to the Snakes’ four-year, $80M contract with the free agent southpaw, as Rodriguez told reporters (including Theo Mackie and Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic).  Hazen was Boston’s GM and Lovullo the bench coach during Rodriguez’s past stint with the Red Sox, and this familiarity resulted in what Hazen described as a two-hour meeting that touched on both the past and what Rodriguez can bring to the D-backs going forward.  Rodriguez and agent Gene Mato met with seven teams during the Winter Meetings, and the field was narrowed to the D-backs and a mystery team before Arizona sealed the deal in a second sitdown.