The Los Angeles Dodgers, the champion of the 2024 World Series, has once again opened its wallet in the Stove League. With the San Diego Padres ace Blake Snell in his arms, he has invested for the second consecutive year in order to conquer the top spot in the Major League.
The U.S. ‘AP News Agency’ reported on the 27th (Korea time) that the Los Angeles Dodgers are trying to spend a lot of money to recruit one of the best starting pitchers less than a month after winning the World Series. “According to an official familiar with the negotiations, Snell and the Dodgers agreed to a five-year contract period, a total of $182 million (about 254.4 billion won). Medical tests will be conducted.”
Snell posted a photo of himself wearing a Dodgers uniform on his official SNS later in the day and left two letters of “LA” and an eye-shaped emoticon.
Snell, born in 1992, started his professional career by graduating from Shorewood High School and joining the Tampa Bay Rays in the first round and 52nd overall in the 2011 MLB Rookie Draft.
Snell made his big league debut in 2016 after going through hard work in the minor leagues. He successfully settled down in the major leagues by posting good performance of six wins, eight losses and an earned run average of 3.54 in 19 games and 89 innings.
Snell has completely broken his reputation as a promising player in the 2018 season, which was his third year in the big league. He recorded his special record of 21 wins, 5 losses and 1.89 ERA in 31 games and 180 ⅔ innings. He has become one of the top starting pitchers in the Major League in addition to Tampa Bay.
Snell, however, slowed down with 6 wins, 8 losses and an ERA of 4.29 in 23 games in the 2019 season. In 2020, when the shortened season was held in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, he rebounded with 4 wins, 2 losses and an ERA of 3.24 in 50 innings in 11 games, making up for the previous year’s slump.
Snell moved to San Diego, where Kim Ha-sung plays, through a trade ahead of the 2021 season. He received a report card that was not bad but fell short of expectations with 7-6 record and 4.20 ERA in 27 games and 128 ⅔ innings.
Snell did his part with an 8-10 record and 3.38 ERA in 24 games and 128 innings in the 2022 season. He helped San Diego advance to the National League Championship Series for the first time in 24 years since 1998.
Snell has regained his reputation as a top-rated pitcher with 14 wins, 9 losses and an earned run average of 2.25 in 180 innings in 32 games during the 2023 season. He sought to become a big hit as he became a free agent, but failed to win the contract he wanted due to frequent injuries and only had two seasons that passed the stipulated innings (162 in his Major League career).
Snell’s destination was the San Francisco Giants, where Lee Jung-hoo is playing. It included an opt-out clause that allows him to break his existing contract and exercise his FA right again after the end of the 2024 season while stamping a two-year 62 million-dollar stamp.
Snell received his report card with five wins, three losses and an earned run average of 3.12 in 104 innings in 20 games during the 2024 season. He was sluggish due to poor spring training in the early days of the season, but recovered his ball power as he played pennant races.
Snell exercised his opt-out right as expected after the 2024 season and once again entered the FA market. As the Dodgers embraced Snell with its big investment, it became possible to build the strongest starting rotation among the 30 clubs.
Snell is a left-handed fireballer who sprays 150 kilometers of fastballs in the early-middle-class, but his poor pitching in innings is considered a disadvantage. He was also treated harshly in the FA market last year, despite winning the 2018 All-Star, the two-time Warren Spahn Award (2018 and 2023), the 2018 American League Cy Young Award and the 2023 National League Cy Young Award.
“Snell announced the contract by posting a picture of himself wearing a 에볼루션카지노 uniform on SNS,” AP said. “He will play the starting rotation with superstars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto at the Dodgers next year.”
“With Jack Flaherty and Walker Buehler in the FA market, the Dodgers has a vacancy. With Snell’s addition, the rotation will be filled with ace pitchers,” he said. “Snell’s average annual salary of 36.4 million dollars (about 50.88 billion won) in the Dodgers is the fifth highest in the entire Major League in the 2025 season.”
With Snell joining the team, Dodgers has established strong first, second and third starters, leading to Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Snell. Dodgers has made bold investments to secure its second consecutive World Series title.
Wearing a Dodgers uniform, Ohtani received a report card that was expected to be possible only in computer games with a batting average of 0.310 (197 hits in 636 at-bats) with 54 homers, 130 RBIs and 59 steals, and an OPS of 1.036, in 159 games in the 2024 season. He wrote the history of 50 homers and 50 steals in a single season, which no one has achieved in the history of Major League Baseball.
However, due to the aftermath of the right elbow surgery he underwent in the 2023 season, Ohtani only focused on hitting without hitting as a double play in the 2024 season. Starting from the 2025 season, he will start operating the “divergence” mode again.
As a pitcher, Ohtani recorded 15-9 with a 2.33 ERA in 166 innings in the 2022 season, and 10-5 with a 3.14 ERA in 132 innings in 23 games in the 2023 season. If only the performance of the two years before the surgery is reproduced, the Dodgers’ power will be even stronger.
Yamamoto received the report card in compliance with the record of seven wins, two losses and an earned run average of 3.00 in 90 innings in 18 games this year when he made his Major League debut. Expectations are high on him to take more mound and play more innings in his second year.