Well just when you thought the Dodgers couldn’t get better, they went out and got one of the best pitchers available in free agency. Blake Snell who opted out of his contract from the Giants that had a year remaining, has now signed with the world series champions, Los Angeles Dodgers for a 5yr/182m deal, that includes a 52m signing bonus. Snell is the first 9-figure contract to hit the market this offseason so far.

Blake Snell the former first round draft pick out of Shorewood HS, has pitched 1096.2 innings in the MLB with 1368 strikeouts and a career 3.19 ERA, with two Cy-Young’s.

Now the Dodgers will hope to get some of the Snell that we saw when he received two Cy Young awards which we’re the only times he has pitched above 130 innings. Snell also has a problem with walking batters, he averages about 80 batters walked a season. Snell is one of the top pitchers this free agency when he is fully healthy and ready to go. But this could be a risky move as i mentioned before, he’s only had two seasons where he’s pitched above 130 innings. Which isn’t a concern for the Dodgers as they have pitchers to replace in case for injuries, but it could be worrisome for their huge investment.

Just like Ohtani’s contract, some of his contract is deferred. I will update this story once i find out the official numbers, but this could be a scenario like how Ohtani chose to defer his money, as Snell received a 52m signing bonus. With all that money received in the signing bonus, we could see a huge amount of this deferred, which would still leave room for the Dodgers to sign some more top free agents that are still available on the market.