Blake Snell says decision to join Dodgers 'was really easy' - ESPN

LOS ANGELES — Blake Snell donned a white Los Angeles Dodgers jersey for the first time Tuesday, representing the latest high-priced free agent to sign with a franchise now coming off a championship.

Snell's five-year, $182 million contract — with $52 million up front and another $66 million deferred through 2046 — marked the fourth nine-figure signing the Dodgers have consummated over the past 12 months, following Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow.

All three of those players will be in the Dodgers' rotation in 2025, but they all bring varying levels of injury concerns. Snell himself has faced durability questions throughout his career, most of them aimed at an inability to pitch deep into games, but he also brings another frontline starter to a staff that, at full strength, might be the best in the sport. And though he'll celebrate his 32nd birthday on Wednesday, the Dodgers believe he can be even better.

«I've known him since he was 18 years old,» said Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, the longtime Tampa Bay Rays executive who had a hand in drafting Snell 52nd overall out of high school in 2011.

«To watch his journey, watch the incredible success that he's had, has been very special. And with a guy that's enjoyed that much success, usually in major league free agency you're buying the back side of a guy's career, the accomplishments that they've had. And with Blake, one thing that's really exciting for us is that, for as much success as he's had, we feel like there's more in there, and a lot of upside beyond what he's done to this point, and the impact he can have on us in our quest to win a World Series this year and as many years as we can see out.»

The first championship for