Blake Snell's new team, contract details will give Padres fans sinking feeling

The San Diego Padres seemed like they were going to emerge from an extremely tough offseason in a pretty good spot. Obviously the talent on the Padres roster decreased, because that is what happens when guys of the caliber of Juan Soto, Blake Snell, and Josh Hader leave town. However, San Diego's roster additions have looked good and their young guys have shown out at camp as well.

However, Blake Snell was still out there on the free agent market. If he signed with some American League team for a crazy deal, the Padres would probably have felt great about things. If he signed with a rival, however, Snell would be around to constantly remind San Diego fans of what might have been.

Sadly, Snell chose the latter, as the division-rival Giants signed Snell to a two year, $62 million deal with an opt-out after the first year. Hopefully, this extended pain ceases (pun intended) after just one season.

Padres losing Blake Snell to the SF Giants is a disaster

This isn't strictly about the loss of Snell, because that was inevitable. It was honestly kind of remarkable that AJ Preller even went out and traded for Dylan Cease last week. Given the state of the Padres' finances and coming off the disappointment of last season, there was never a chance that San Diego was going to pay Snell what he was looking for this offseason.

What matters here is where Snell ended up. The Dodgers already loaded up this offseason, and if he had somehow ended up there, it wouldn't have changed much beyond allowing the same super team to get much more super. With the Giants' strategy of waiting these free agents out resulting in them signing both Matt Chapman and Snell, the NL West became that much harder to navigate. Right now, the only team in the division that isn't good is the Rockies.

The Dodgers had a banner offseason, the Diamondbacks made some nice moves and are coming off a World Series run, and now the Giants appear to be a vastly improved team. The Padres still have the talent to make things interesting, but the division race just got a whole lot harder now that Snell has landed with the Giants.

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