Suddenly, the Yankees’ plan of waiting for Gerrit Cole’s return and filling rotation gaps internally, rather than panic-spending in mid-March on someone who was doomed to be unavailable to start the regular season, doesn’t seem so bad. Maybe we owe Reggie Jackson an apology?

We all knew Snell wouldn’t be quite ready to contribute from curtain up on Opening Day. We didn’t quite know the extent of the damage, though.

Most injuries are unpredictable, and devastating elbow issues could strike at any time, as has been exemplified by (checks notes) every MLB roster in 2024. But it was fairly obvious that Snell might encounter some difficulties in ramping up after he was forced to hold his own private spring training/bullpen sessions without the consultations of active team physicians. After all, he wasn’t on an active team, thanks to he and Scott Boras turning down the Yankees’ initial overtures, then harboring somewhat unreasonable demands deep into the winter.

“Unreasonable” might not be the correct word. They were, instead, outdated. 25 years ago, some team would’ve absolutely folded and paid the reigning Cy Young whatever he wanted. These days? Someone with Snell’s control issues entering his age-31 season was always going to have to make concessions. Ultimately, he settled on a short-term, high-AAV deal with the San Francisco Giants, a franchise that has struggled to land impact free agents and was likely thrilled to add one at the Yankees’ expense.