The Yankees have been eyeing their former starter Jordan Montgomery most of winter, and now they are also considering NL Cy Young winner Blake Snell. If they have a choice, there’s no choice.
Go for Snell. Go for the gusto.
But here’s the first key question: Here in this winter of our teams being used, do they have a decent shot at either pitcher?
If the Yankees took a hit to their confidence following the Yoshinobu Yamamoto disappointment, can you blame them? Almost until the end, they liked their chances. Yamamoto showed himself in talks to have a keen interest in Yankees lore. But as it turns out, he just may be a history buff.
In the end, of course, the universally coveted Yamamoto fulfilled early rumors of a West Coast preference by opting to join buddy/superstar Shohei Ohtani and make the superteam in Los Angeles that much more super. Who’s to say Montgomery and/or Snell may not prefer to go elsewhere? They obviously have options.
Montgomery might actually be the tougher get of the two, anyway. His chances to return to Texas, where he played a key role in helping the Rangers win their first World Series, are improving with the team’s local TV deal rumored to possibly be on its way to being resolved. It’s easy to imagine he’d like that.
But while some wonder whether Snell, a Seattle product, might want to stay west, his best chances out there may be the Angels, who are at least a year or two away, and the Giants, who have to contend with the Dodgers. And who’s to say he’d take the west over winning.
“Snell has won a Cy Young both on the East and the West Coast, and in both leagues. He is open to all clubs and is seeking winning and competitive environments,” agent Scott Boras said in answer to whether the Yankees have a shot.
Likewise, Yamamoto’s handlers denied those early rumors of a left coast preference. We’ll never know for sure since the Dodgers also made the best offer ($325 million, including a $50 million signing bonus), but nothing said at Yamamoto’s press conference suggested he was ever leaning east.
No one’s ever going to show their cards, of course. But Snell did pitch successfully in the AL East before being traded to San Diego.
Anyway, the Yankees need to take a chance if they want to win the winter. Montgomery’s market is way more robust than you’d even think — Philly is another player, and so reportedly is Boston, where his Harvard-trained wife is doing her residency at Beth Israel Hospital — and let’s face it, Snell is the better pitcher.
Oh sure, the Yankees have questions about Snell’s off-and-on seasons, and even his staying power in games. But he’s maybe the most talented left-hander in the game. And following their Juan Soto trade, the Yankees need pitching.
Snell gives them the chance to possess inarguably the best one-two pitching combo in baseball. Gerrit Cole, a good judge of talent, is reportedly all for it.
The worst that can happen is he turns them down, which would only continue a winter of rejection for both our teams here in the greatest city in the world.
First came Craig Counsell, who seemed like a prime candidate to come to the Mets since he wanted to set a new managerial salary standard and Counsell’s old boss was the new Mets boss. Ultimately though, Counsell loved New York so much that he preferred to go to his longtime Brewers team’s hated rival, 90 miles down I-94, and risk being hated himself in his own hometown, Whitefish Bay, Wis.
Then there was Yamamoto, the apple of both Big Apple teams’ eye. The Mets’ entire winter (beyond Counsell) was built around Yamamoto, maybe the most universally beloved star free-agent pitcher ever.
And despite the widespread overall interest and early word he preferred the West Coast, the Yankees seemed oddly certain. They saved uniform No. 18 and proudly presented it to him. You could imagine them even clearing out locker space.
Yamamoto was beloved for his youth, but he’s never thrown a pitch in the majors. Snell is the more proven commodity — and he won’t cost anything like $375 million — Yamamoto’s price tag including posting fee.
Boras likes to highlight similarities with Randy Johnson in their age 28-30 seasons (Snell has actually limited opposing hitters to a slightly lower batting average .201 to .207 and posted the higher strikeout percentage of 31.5 to 28.3), but even if he isn’t quite the Little Unit, he’s one of the most dominant pitchers in the game when he’s on. Snell led the majors in opponents’ OPS at .579 while Cole was second at .581.
Should the Yankees sign Snell, they’d become the first team to possess both defending Cy Young winners since the 1990 Royals, who had 1989 winners Bret Saberhagen and Mark Davis. The Soto-Snell offseason combo may not top the Dodgers’ all-time winter, but it surely would make the Yankees American League favorites. It’s no time for cold feet. It’s time to go for it.
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