Astros Predicted to Trade for $62 Million Cy Young Winner

For Astros fans, if you squint hard enough at Giants starter Blake Snell, you can still see the outline of the pitcher who won the NL Cy Young Award last season with the Padres. If you look only at the previous month, in fact, you’d be willing to hand Snell another Cy Young on the spot. That version of Snell, in the end, might be enough to warrant a bold Astros trade ahead of this week’s deal deadline, with Snell coming in to calm Houston’s troubled pitching waters.

Of course, it is not going to be easy. For one thing, the Astros are surely not the only team to have noticed the resurgence of Snell, who struck out 15 batters on Saturday against Colorado. For another thing, any Snell deal is complicated by his own uncertain future, with a contract that could make him a long-term commitment or a short-term rental.

An Astros trade for Snell would have them on the hook for the remainder of his $23.5 million this season. It gives Snell the option, too, to stick around at $38.5 million for next season, or to come off the books and return to free agency. He could be a $62 million investment. Or a short-term rental.

It would need a team willing to take a big gamble to add Snell. The Astros and GM Dana Brown, though, have shown a willingness to gamble.

Astros Trade Would Help Team on the Rebound Since June

Thus, an Astros trade for Snell at the deadline is one of the predictions lodged this week at MLB.com. No doubt, Houston needs an ace pitcher to help fend off the Mariners in the AL West. They’ve gotten good performances from Hunter Brown, Ronel Blanco and Framber Valdez, but dropping a healthy Snell into the middle of that bunch helps that unit go from a chicken-wire-and-bubble-gum operation to a full-on team strength.

Writes Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com:

“Go big or go home, ‘Stros!

“It has become clear that maintaining their standard of excellence in 2025 and beyond is going to be a real challenge for the Astros, who have Alex Bregman, Ryan Pressly and Justin Verlander approaching free agency, plus Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker set to get more expensive. The Snell acquisition will be one last go-for-it-with-gusto Deadline move to try to push this team past the Mariners for good in the AL West standings and advance through October yet again.”

The Astros, with seven straight postseasons under their belts, are in a virtual tie with the Mariners atop the division. After a rocky 28-35 start that had many wondering if they’d be trade deadline sellers, they’ve gone 27-15 and look like a postseason threat again.

Blake Snell Has Been Dominant in July

As for Snell, he struggled from the get-go with the Giants, after he held out for a big contract in the offseason but never got one, signing only in late March. The lack of spring training appeared to have hurt him, as injuries to his groin and adductor cost him two lengthy stints on the DL.

Since returning in July, though, he has been lights-out. Overall, Snell is 0-3 with a 5.10 ERA, but in his last four starts since coming back off the DL, he has struck out 30 in 24 innings, with a 0.75 ERA, a .104 batting-average allowed and a 0.625 WHIP.

Health has been a concern for Snell throughout his career. Winning the Cy Young last year, the lefty seemed to recapture some of the magic from the season he had in Tampa Bay in 2018, when he won the A.L. Cy Young Award with a 21-5 mark and a 1.89 ERA.

He struggled to stay healthy from there, but looked much better in his last two seasons, culminating in a 14-9 season with a league-best 2.25 ERA in 2023. Now, he seems back on form, and an Astros trade would be most welcome.