Padres rival reportedly favored to sign Blake Snell

Aug 13, 2021; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher Blake Snell (4) pitches in the second inning of the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Blake Snell may be switching over to the other side of the NL West.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports wrote in his column on Sunday that the San Francisco Giants appear to be the leading candidates for the free-agent lefty Snell. Nightengale adds though that Snell will not sign with a team until fellow top starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto finalizes a deal first.

Snell, 32, is the reigning NL Cy Young winner thanks to a sublime season with the San Diego Padres where he went 14-9 with an MLB-best 2.25 ERA plus a career-high 234 strikeouts over 32 total appearances. He is by far the best southpaw available on the market (though Jordan Montgomery and Shōta Imanaga are among the options still out there).

The Giants already hit a four-bagger this offseason by landing star Korean outfielder Jung-hoo Lee. They still have other big aspirations too and are now favored to win the Snell sweepstakes on top of it.