The Giants listened at the deadline on no-hit pitcher Blake Snell, but considering they’d already paid his $17 million signing bonus and all that remained was $5M in salary and a $30M 2025 player option that he almost surely will decline, they understandably sought a top prospect back in return.
Even with the Yankees making top hitting prospect Jasson Dominguez untouchable, it’s thought the Giants would have done other deals, provided a top-100 prospect was included. Not one top-100 prospect was traded deadline day (and the Yankees, like most, are protective of their top guys), but Snell was a potential game-changer who now holds a 0.55 ERA over five starts.
The Yankees — one of at least six teams to check in, along with the Orioles, Dodgers, Padres, Cubs and Rangers — seemed worried about the $30M player option, but two rival GMs opined it would take a “catastrophic” or “debilitating” injury for Snell to exercise it now, anyway.
Matt Chapman is third in the NL with a 5.3 WAR thanks to brilliant defense, and he, too, is expected to decline the first of two more $18M options. The Giants do have interest in signing him long term and are expected to broach that subject again.
The Giants have trouble getting stars to the Bay Area. But Chapman is among the willing.
The Tigers did their job hearing out teams on Cy Young favorite Tarik Skubal, but no one came close. With hardware on the way, two years of control to go, a reasonable salary and amazing improvement under Tigers tutelage, hard to blame Detroit for holding him.
The price on Garrett Crochet didn’t drop following his understandable stance, first revealed in The Post, that he wouldn’t pitch in October without an extension. Reality check: While he’s terrific and has two years of team control, the innings were an issue either way.
Crochet should go in the offseason, when there’s a clean slate for the pitcher who’s already up 1,000 percent in innings (12 ²/₃ to 118 ¹/₃).
Amazing stat: Erick Fedde was 7-4 with the White Sox.
