Giants’ Blake Snell declines $38.5M contract option for 2025 MLB season and becomes FA | News, scores, highlights, stats and rumors

Two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell will head to free agency after one season with the San Francisco Giants.

Snell declined his $38.5 million player option and will become a free agent ahead of the 2025 season, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today.

The pitcher made $15 million in 2025 and was set to receive $17 million signing bonus on January 15. Snell would also have $15 million of his 2025 salary deferred until July 1, 2027.

Snell choosing 2025 seemed like a near foregone conclusion, as the reigning Cy Young winner struggled early in his age-31 season, throwing a 10.42 ERA through 19.0 innings in his first five starts of the campaign.

After a stint on the IL, Snell’s season began to improve when he returned to the rotation in July.

Over his final eight starts of the campaign, he posted a 1.31 ERA, allowing 65 strikeouts to 19 walks and throwing a no-hitter on August 2 against the Cincinnati Reds.

The nine-inning effort sealed the first no-no of Snell’s career, lowering his full-season ERA to 3.12 and raising expectations that he would opt out of his San Francisco deal to sign a contract for the longer-term search.

The Giants could now attempt to re-sign Snell by offering him a longer-term contract.

Snell hasn’t gotten a chance to pitch in a postseason game since his 2022 season with the San Diego Padres, and after a disappointing 2024 season, it’s not clear if that will change in San Francisco. Despite bringing in manager Bob Melvin, spending money on a historically high payroll and making the offseason acquisitions of Snell and Robbie Ray, the Giants missed the postseason for the third straight time since the departure of the NLDS team in 2021.

But Snell told reporters after the end of his 2024 season that he sees “a lot of promise” in the Giants organization.

“I just want to be somewhere where they want me, love me and will invest in me to be the best player I can be to help them win,” Snell told MLB.com’s Maria Guardado in September. ‘I like it here. I hope it’s here.’

Winning a bidding war for Snell could cost the Giants dearly after the Cy Young-quality pitching he demonstrated in the latter part of the 2024 season. The team may find its free agency limited by the luxury tax implications from last season.

On the other hand, Snell missed time last season due to multiple injuries, and the fact that he is heading into his age-32 season could lower how much teams are willing to pay for the top prospect.

Whatever his next contract, Snell will certainly be one of the most highly prized free agents of the 2025 offseason. He proved this fall that he’s still capable of being a game-changing player for a team in need of a starter.