The Yankees continue to express interest in the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner, but plenty of obstacles remain.

The New York Yankees are usually big players on the free agent market. But after the Yankees lost out on their pursuit of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the next big starting pitcher coming from Japan, they turned their attention to Blake Snell, the veteran southpaw who, despite winning the NL Cy Young Award in 2023, has somehow gotten lost in the shuffle of free agency.

However, there remain plenty of hurdles for the Yankees to clear in their pursuit of Snell. And it looks like the hurdles are far too high for them to overcome. According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, even though Snell and the Yankees have continued to “discuss potential scenarios”, talks between the two parties have mostly gone on without any tangible progress.

Heyman added that the Yankees, who have room for one more major addition to their starting rotation after their more understated move for Marcus Stroman, would want to add Blake Snell, although it would cost them a pretty penny. Signing Snell to his desired contract would trigger a 110 percent tax, which means that signing him would cost New York more than double his salary.

All in all, the Yankees’ chances of signing Snell, according to Heyman’s source, are “extremely low”, although for fans, “extremely low” is infinitely better than having zero chance. Alas, given where the tides are trending in their pursuit of the 31-year old southpaw, Yankees fans should not hold their breath.

New York has shown no willingness to move from their stance of refusing to splash out a huge amount of money for Blake Snell, as big of a help as he would be to the Yankees’ hopes of mounting a push for the World Series title in 2024. Around $60 million is what the Yankees would have to shell out in 2024 for the privilege of adding Snell, and even for the Evil Empire, that amount is probihitive.

It’s unfathomable that a reigning Cy Young Award winner remains unsigned this deep into free agency. Snell may be justified in holding out for his desired contract value, although with the start of the 2024 season inching closer and closer, teams will have a greater chance of signing the 31-year old lefty to a bargain deal.