Yankees’ offer to the pitcher was $120 million less than he wanted

With spring training less than three weeks away, numerous major free agents have yet to be signed.

Blake Snell, a two-time Cy Young champion, could have easily avoided this uncertain future by signing a new deal.

In a Jan. 27 piece, USA TODAY’s Bob Nightengale said that Blake Snell’s only offer was a six-year, $150 million contract from the New York Yankees, despite his request for $270 million over nine years.

Snell, 31, is coming off a season with the San Diego Padres that saw him post a 2.25 ERA and 234 strikeouts in 180 innings to win his second Cy Young Award.

The fact that the left-hander with a lifetime 3.20 ERA and 11.1 K/9 is still unsigned this late in the offseason is surprising, but it is due to a combination of reasons, including money, innings per outing, and inconsistency.

For starters, Snell’s agent is Scott Boras, and Boras typically drives a hard bargain on behalf of his clients, as appears to be the case here, with the Yankees’ offer falling short of $120 million and three years and Snell currently without any other offers. Two, despite his domination, Snell does not throw far into games (he averages five-plus innings per start and has pitched 150 innings twice in his career), and he had three seasons with an ERA of four or above.

Around the time the Yankees’ offer to Snell surfaced, general manager Brian Cashman secured ground-baller Marcus Stroman for $37 million over two years, with a contract that can reach $55 million over three years if Stroman reaches 140 innings in 2025, according to Nightengale.