Padres' rival poised to inflict even more pain after signing Matt Chapman

The San Diego Padres were finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel this offseason. Most of the painful losses for them and unfortunate additions by rivals had already been made and there have been many causes for optimism down at camp.

Jackson Merrill has been impressing on both sides of the ball down at camp, the bullpen looks good especially once Matsui is healthy again, and everyone in the clubhouse seems to be in a good head space.

Unfortunately, the good times were interrupted Friday night when it was revealed that the San Francisco Giants were signing Matt Chapman to a three-year, $54 million deal. One silver lining to this offseason had been that other than the Dodgers, who went wild, the rest of the NL West had been reasonably quiet.

The Diamondbacks made a few moves here and there coming off their run to the World Series and the Giants had been missing out on the big names they coveted yet again. Sadly, SF just flipped the script and added the best infielder on the market who is an elite defender and has gotten MVP consideration in the past.

The bad news doesn't stop there, however, as it looks like the Giants could be in line to make another massive splash even after signing Chapman. They're reportedly still going after Blake Snell on the free agent market.

Padres could lose Blake Snell to rival SF Giants even after Chapman signing

A rival that seemed to be struggling to attract top players all of sudden making a splash is bad enough. The Giants truly looked like they were going to once again miss out on the top free agents, which made the Padres' brutal offseason not sting quite as much. Now, not only did they get one of the best free agents bats this offseason at a very reasonable price tag, but it also now looks landing Snell is a very real possibility for them.

Losing Snell to a division rival like the Giants would truly be salt in the wound for Padres fans. Sure, San Diego will still be fielding a fun roster in 2024 that could make more waves than people think, but having another team in the division beyond the Dodgers add multiple top free agents, including Snell who won a Cy Young with the Padres last year, just feels like piling on.

With Scott Boras seemingly waving the white flag this offseason, we will know soon enough where Snell ends up. The Giants and Yankees are clearly still in on him and Boras' willingness to work these three-year deals with multiple opt outs should get more teams involved as. For Padres fans' sake, hopefully Snell ends up far away and preferably not even in the National League.

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