Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Blake Snell, ahead of the looming free-agent frenzy, gave fans some hope about Tarik Skubal’s standing with the team.
What Snell is doing to keep Tarik Skubal on the Dodgers
Despite playing together for only a handful of months, Snell and Skubal formed a special brotherly connection.
Snell has already said he urged Skubal to stay after the team was eliminated in the NLCS, saying they needed to resolve their unfinished business.
Since then, at a Dodgers Foundation event on Thursday, the southpaw updated fans on his continued recruiting efforts as the guy who seemed closest to Skubal as a Dodger.
“I talk to him every day. He’s good. He knows how I feel. You know, I want nothing more than him to be a Dodger. But again, it’s a life decision for him and his family. So I respect that,” Snell told David Vassegh of Spectrum Sportsnet.
“I keep it there, but I’ve done my pitch. I hear the Dodger fans, you know, hit me up all the time. ‘Get a little bro to stay here.’ We’ll see what he does, you know, but I think we have a good shot.
“I think we do have a good shot to get him here.”
Can Snell’s connection to Skubal help the Dodgers?
Snell’s bond with Skubal cannot overcome hundreds of millions of dollars in difference between the Dodgers’ offer and what another team offers.
If the Dodgers make a very competitive offer, however, and focus on the short term with a record-setting average annual value, Skubal’s time with the Dodgers could help them swap him for longer-term money.
No matter how much he enjoyed his time in LA, Skubal needs to maximize his free agency and get his money now, since pitchers’ health is never guaranteed.
By all accounts, with a ruthless agent in Scott Boras, he will do just that, but the Dodgers have the money and, given how much they appreciate his competitiveness and could really use more starting-pitcher security, they have motivation to be a finalist for the starter.
