Blake Snell is officially the newest member of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Snell, the two-time Cy Young Award winner, donned Dodger blue for the first time Tuesday while getting introduced by the organization in Los Angeles.
After a long, unfruitful journey in free agency last winter that resulted in him signing in mid-March, the 31-year-old Snell inked a five-year deal worth $182 million with the Dodgers a couple of days before Thanksgiving. As one of the top arms on the open market, what drew Snell to Los Angeles?
“Being in L.A., the pressure is always on—I like that,” Snell said Tuesday. “Living here is pretty amazing, opportunities. But being able to pitch in a packed stadium, you know? I get to make moments for people. This is where you want to play.
“I don’t think there’s a better situation that you could be in than being right here.”
Snell continues to make his rounds around the NL West, spending three seasons with the San Diego Padres from 2021 to ’23 and last year with the San Francisco Giants. He started 20 games for the Giants last season, registering a 5–3 record, 3.12 ERA and career-high 12.5 strikeouts per nine innings.
After signing his new deal, Snell now looks to lead a star-studded pitching staff in Los Angeles that is looking much deeper and better than the unit that guided the Dodgers to their eighth World Series title in franchise history this fall. Snell will likely pitch at the top of the rotation, followed by Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani, who aims to return to the mound in 2025.
