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The San Francisco Giants, much like every other team in the NL West, have played fodder to the Los Angeles Dodgers' dominance over the past decade or so. On Tuesday, this worrying trend for the Giants continued, as Blake Snell, in essence, used San Francisco as a stepping stone to secure a long-term deal from the Dodgers in this year's free agency worth $182 million over five years.
At first, it looked as though the Giants' signing of Snell was going to end up being a total disaster. Snell was not just bad on the mound to start the 2024 season, he also went to the injured list on multiple occasions. But the 32-year-old lefty emerged as one of the most unhittable pitchers in the entire league upon his return from the IL in July, and losing him, to a division rival no less, will hurt for the Giants.
Regardless, the Giants aren't just about to feel sorry for themselves. Even with Snell now with the Dodgers, the Giants are still looking to compete with the best team in the NL West, as they are now reportedly setting their sights towards signing Corbin Burnes — with Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reporting that the Giants, indeed, have “significant interest” in the 30-year-old righty.
Burnes, however, will command a bigger commitment from the Giants than Snell would have, or at least Feinsand's sources believe so. And it makes sense as well; Burnes is two years younger, so he'll be angling for a longer-term contract that will inevitably bump up the deal's total value above Snell's.
Corbin Burnes to form a deadly 1-2 punch with Logan Webb atop the Giants' rotation?
The Giants are in dire need of some starting pitching reinforcements especially after the departure of Blake Snell. Last season, the Giants went 14-6 in Snell's starts, 16-17 in Logan Webb's starts, and 50-59 otherwise. That simply won't cut it for a team with lofty contending aspirations.
Adding Burnes would be a major move that helps address this team's weakness. But the Giants may need more than Burnes to fix their concerning starting pitching issues.
At the very least, Burnes is a much more consistent workhorse than Snell is; Snell may be more electric on the mound and he has a higher ceiling thanks to his incredible strikeout ability, but Burnes has been healthy over the past four seasons and has pitched at least 193.2 innings over the past three.
