Yankees fans should thank Reggie Jackson for Astros passing on Blake Snell

Finally, Yankees legend turned Houston Astros turncoat Reggie Jackson is starting to pay some dividends in keeping the 'Stros' payroll reasonable! Same with Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell, apparently. Thanks, guys!

According to Jackson's appearance on Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman's New York Post podcast, the trio of former athletes (along with the Astros' analytics team) consults Jim Crane on potential offseason moves, which Crane synthesizes into his financial response.

And when it came to Blake Snell's late-offseason ask -- which gave the Astros a chance to (somewhat affordably) steal both Snell and Josh Hader -- Jackson and Co. weren't biting, even with a reduced number of years required.

"Being fiscally responsible is what kicked us out of the Snell deal," Jackson confirmed. "He signed a two-year deal for, I wanna say, $62 [million]? That's too much for him. He's been hurt a couple times. And I think there's incentives on top of that. He's also got an option on his own, and between the four or five people who make decisions with the Astros, we don't play that game."

Yankees legend Reggie Jackson on Blake Snell's contract: "That's too much for him."

I want to thank Reggie Jackson, from the bottom of my heart, for existing as both a "My Two Cents"-giver to the Astros front office, as well as a public-facing spokesman. That quote is too good. Someone affiliated with a big-league GM actually went on the record (and, by the way, only mentioned Jim Crane, and not so much 'Stros GM Dana Brown).

And the Astros weren't even subjected to the same 110% taxation as the Yankees would've been! Hopefully this helps clarify, once and for all, that the short-term contract Snell settled on wasn't viewed as a massive win by every franchise other than the Yankees.

There are legitimate concerns about Snell, even in the short-term, and the desperate Giants jumped at something the Yankees (and Astros) weren't willing to entertain. Still ... you've got to admit the Astros would look a little spookier with Snell over Spencer Arrighetti. You've also got to admit that it's fairly humorous to hear Reggie Jackson dismissing a player's financial demands as ridiculous.

He may not be wrong, but it still strikes the exact irony chord we needed this week, especially as the Astros struggle to find their footing.