Yankees hinting they've drawn specific line in sand with Blake Snell

In the wake of Thursday night's Marcus Stroman signing, a few baseball insiders were quick to count the Yankees out of the race for Blake Snell.

Joel Sherman, who's been as plugged in as anyone with the Yankees' dysfunction this winter and was all over their desperation (prior to the Stroman deal), felt differently. Following the Stroman news drop, he tweeted, "I do not think this precludes the Yankees from still trying to trade for Cease or sign another FA like Snell if prices fall. NYY felt they had to get on the board with another vet starter and did so with Stroman."

While it's quite clear a gap exists between the team's current offer and what Snell is comfortable competing for (as laid out by Jon Heyman), the Yankees reportedly provided the left-hander their offer on Thursday. The Stroman deal also came together after a flurry of recent meetings and a face-to-face with Brian Cashman. Does that sound like a situation whether it's either one or the other?

Prior to Sherman's note and the Stroman addition, Heyman laid things out plainly. The Yankees like Snell. Gerrit Cole likes Snell. Snell, the team believes, would prefer to pitch in New York. But the current gap between offers is sizable, and it's unlikely to grow much following Thursday's security blanket (wild to call Stroman that, but it's true). Clearly, the Yankees are hoping Snell's market stays small and full of non-competitive teams so he can take a risk and choose New York's theoretical lowball (but, again, either no one's beaten it or he really wants to come to the Bronx).

Yankees have made offer to Blake Snell, hope he drops into their price range

...which is low. At this moment in time, it would stand to reason that the Yankees' offer to Snell is closer to three years and $90 million, the number offhandedly thrown out by Jack Curry on Thursday night's episode of Hot Stove on YES Network.

That would indicate the Yankees are currently playing a game of chicken with Snell, betting that no other team will end up in his preferred range ($170-200 million, above Carlos Rodón's contract), and that the only other teams bidding are also rans like the Giants and Angels. The team leaked to Heyman that they believe Snell would prefer to join the Yankees; the longer this goes, and the less enticing the field remains, the more plausible that seems. If the Phillies join in earnest, that could be the lone game-changer still to come.

It would be fair to assume that, after signing Stroman and beefing up their depth with Luke Weaver, the Yankees would be satisfied with their rotation. After all, Clarke Schmidt is now slotted in as their five. There is no unproven rookie in the top five of the depth chart. Weaver lurks. They could always pivot to bullpen additions.

However, "satisfied" does not mean "finished." This isn't over yet, as long as Snell and the Yankees agree to play the same game.