Well, well, Snell. Look who’s come crawling back/look who never left.

In a bit of surprising news (that could still be just a bit of carefully crafted PR by an agent or a team that just lost a second starting pitcher for an undetermined amount of time), the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser reports that multiple sources have told her the San Francisco Giants remain interested in the services of reigning NL Cy Young Blake Snell.

(They’re also still interested in Gold Glove third baseman Matt Chapman, with one source saying it’s “50-50” for the Giants to sign “one or the other,” but I’ll examine that later.)

What more can be said about Blake Snell? I’ve been negging the optimism in my head and the Giants publicly on this site for the express purpose of goading them into going after a good pitcher who will help them a lot. Sure, the Giants could tell people that they feel Robbie Ray is comparable to Blake Snell or that they’re comfortable with their internal talent based on projections or it’s simply beyond the bounds of their financial model to add multiple star players at this juncture, but they could also just sign star players.

My personal preference remains Jordan Montgomery, but I’m not going to complain if Snell comes aboard, especially if it winds up being in the range of what Cody Bellinger got from the Cubs (3/$80MM). Indeed, the structure of that contract offers a tantalizing option for a spendthrift, too clever by half Giants front office when it comes to the Snell sweepstakes:

Cody Bellinger, Cubs
$80M, 3 years, 2 opt-outs

$27,500,000 - 2024

Player option 2025 for $27,500,000 or $2,500,000 buyout.

Player option 2026 for $25,000,000 or $5,000,000 buyout (payable $2,500,000 each on 1/15/26; 1/15/27)
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 27, 2024

And look, I’m not a journalist, I’m a blogger, so I’m not compelled to follow certain best practices, but I do see how loading up the old conspiracythink is dangerous, and so I’m compelled to apologize for this tangent. We all know that Jon Heyman especially and Susan Slusser occasionally have been very reliable information disseminators on behalf of agent Scott Boras. Slusser’s Snell/Chapman article and Heyman’s Bellinger contract breakdown were posted to social media about an hour apart. Is Scott Boras trying to signal to previously interested parties that there might be a new path forward?

I’m on the hook. Well done, Scott Boras and Susan Slusser. A Blake Snell deal of 3 years, $90 million with two player options that include buyouts (the team is paying the player to walk away — what a country!) seems like a no-brainer to Mr. 1-and-1 (San Francisco Giants President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi, in case I was unclear). That’s all just speculation. It seems less likely that a 31-year old pitcher would structure a deal that way given that he’s always a Spring Training away from a hand cramp or thoracic outlet issue or plain ol’ sore elbow.

That said, a rotation of Webb, Snell, and to a lesser extent (for now) Kyle Harrison and Jordan Hicks/Ethan Small/Mason Black to start the season until Alex Cobb and Robbie Ray arrive is, on paper, beyond solid. It’s enough to tamp down on the creeping pessimism a youth movement might bring. I would gladly trade the uncertainty of today for the uncertainty of, say, the 2009 team, where they could hang in there because of the pitching but couldn’t hit; and this time around, I’d have faith in the front office to cook up something a bit more clever to help out the offense at the deadline than Ryan Garko.

(No, I have no idea why I’m still holding on to 2009 when 2010+2012+2014 happened.)

Matt Chapman being the other primary name in Slusser’s piece simply adds to the dense smoke that has surrounded his free agency all offseason. It has felt fait aChapli since roundabout November, so if there’s any surprise at all, it’s the idea that the Giants are still involved with any big name free agents at this juncture — well, that’s only if you 100% believed Zaidi’s posture last week that the team was basically done adding players.

The biggest surprise of the article was a mention of Madison Bumgarner having interest in rejoining the team. Until we see video of him at Driveline or its equivalent or reading pieces by Andrew Baggarly or Eno Sarris about Bumgarner working “in the lab,” consider him cooked. He is half a decade removed from being a league average pitcher and a decade removed from rescuing the Giants in the World Series. I’m confident that most of the fanbase has moved on from the idea that he could help the Giants (or any team), but just in case... abandon all hope.

Snell and/or Chapman, though? They absolutely would help. Either of them comfortably raises the team’s floor and both of them makes the Giants a serious Wild Card contender. Still, if they wind up signing either of them it will disprove my theory that once we hear the Giants are in on a player that they are actually out. I’m not sure how I’d feel about that.