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Mets viewing Blake Snell as a 'fallback' option doesn't match the offseason blueprints

A good pitcher who doesn't match what the Mets are doing.

By Tim Boyle|
Sep 2, 2023; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher Blake Snell (4) throws a
Sep 2, 2023; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher Blake Snell (4) throws a | Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

Jon Heyman of the NY Post shared one of the bigger New York Mets rumors of the MLB Winter Meetings. According to him, the ‘fallback’ plan for the team is to sign Blake Snell.

Oftentimes this would have fans rejoicing. The guy won his second Cy Young in 2023. Everything about him screams…let’s scream?

The problem is that pesky qualifying offer Snell rejected. The Mets would lose their second and fifth highest draft pick to sign him along with $1 million in international bonus slot money. A worthy risk for some teams, it doesn’t fit the motif of year one for David Stearns.

Blake Snell isn’t a solution for the Mets

If the Mets were a Blake Snell away from winning a championship, it might be the move to make. They clearly aren’t. The Mets have work to do up and down the roster; mostly up.

Early offseason moves have suggested they’ll be in on the big guys but also the smaller ones. Snell is one of those bigger targets and with the exception of the penalties they’d have to accept, he could make sense as a suitable fallback option.

There are some performance issues with Snell that should have already made the Mets cautious. While a two-time Cy Young winner, these are the only two seasons where he topped 130 innings. Snell reached a whole new level of excellence in those two seasons, leading the league with a 1.89 ERA back in 2018 and this past season at 2.25.

This history of missing time might have been enough for some Mets fans to throw up the stop sign. This has limited a guy with a career 3.20 ERA to only a single All-Star appearance and a pair of Cy Young victories the only two times he was nominated with any consideration whatsoever.

Mets rumors may call him the fallback option for the team, but that doesn’t quite line up with the theme of this offseason. Snell will get well over $150 million this offseason. Rather than sign him, the Mets are probably better off waiting to see what they can get next offseason.

Uncommitted to long-term deals thus far, breaking the ice with a Snell addition doesn’t blend.

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