No one thought the Dodgers were just going to rest on their laurels after winning their eighth World Series last month, but even for them, bringing in Blake Snell, the two-time Cy Young winner and best starting pitcher on the market, for five years and $182 million was jarring.

Clearly, the Dodgers have gotten tired of running out of starting pitchers by the time they get to October; they’re going to make sure all those innings are filled by as many top-shelf guys as they can find. There aren’t that many more top-shelf than Snell, who won the National League Cy Young with the Padres two years ago but may have actually been even better in the second half of 2024. The Dodgers just won the World Series, and they already got better.

Snell had other suitors, of course; every team needs great starting pitching. And that means Snell agreeing with the Dodgers puts pressure on all sorts of other teams who must now figure out how to react in the wake of such a massive move. These clubs might have to resort to fighting over the other top free agent arms available, namely Corbin Burnes, Max Fried and Jack Flaherty, or perhaps they'll now be jostling to trade for White Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet. Here are five teams on the spot, feeling pressure now that Snell is in Dodger Blue.

1. Giants
It does make sense to start with the team that Snell is leaving. The Giants always knew that the deal they signed with Snell, loaded as it was with opt-outs, could only end up as a one-year stint, though you can understand, after he went 0-3 with a 6.31 ERA in the first half of 2024, if they thought he might be hanging around for a while. His incredible second half, 5-0 with a 1.45 ERA, assured he’d be peddling his wares, and that’s particularly disappointing because the Giants were otherwise a non-factor last season – it’s not like Snell’s campaign made much of a difference.

The Giants have Buster Posey in charge now, and it’s clearly an imperative to him to make this team better, immediately. That just got a lot harder without last year’s ace. Posey has to figure out how to keep this rotation afloat after losing his star pitcher to the Giants’ hated rival … among, frankly, a to-do list that was already quite large.

2. Mets
The Mets were often included on the list of Snell suitors out of default – at this point, people assume they are in on every big free agent. However, the Mets seem more likely to follow their 2024 pitching strategy of finding a whole bunch of veteran innings eaters and seeing which ones stick. This strategy actually worked pretty well with Jose Quintana, Luis Severino and Sean Manaea last year, but those three guys are free agents themselves now and need to be replaced, too.

For a team with the 2025 ambitions that the Mets have, they have several gaping holes in the rotation. Snell would have filled one of them. Now they need to find somebody else … in a market that just got established as more expensive than some might have thought.

3. Orioles
Here’s a pattern you’re going to see this entire offseason, at least until the Orioles themselves step up and break it: A free agent who could fill a need for Baltimore signs, Orioles fans grumble and openly wonder if their team is ever going to make that aggressive move they’ve been waiting for, Baltimore brass will tell everyone to be patient … and then another free agent will sign.

The Orioles may still bring back Burnes, but Snell in many ways made a ton of sense for them, a true ace that elevated the whole upside of the team – particularly in the playoffs, which have proven so vexing for Baltimore the last couple of years. And if the Orioles don’t bring back Burnes – who will have plenty of suitors himself – suddenly this team looks like they’re right back where they were a year ago. And the pattern will continue.

4. Phillies
No, the Phillies were never considered suitors for Snell, and understandably so: One thing they probably don’t need is another veteran pitcher. (Not that they would have shaken a stick at Snell if he had decided to come to Philly, of course.) But they are still a team packed with guys in their 30s, desperate to win a World Series before everybody gets too old for them to do so, who just watched their most formidable NL competitors (who are also the defending champs) sign one of the best pitchers in baseball.

It’s fair to say Philly would have loved to have seen Snell go to the American League, that’s for sure. The Phillies may still add this offseason, and you wonder if the Dodgers getting Snell puts even more pressure on them to do so. The Phillies don’t have many shopping days left until Christmas; they need to win right now, and the Dodgers made it more difficult for them to do so.

5. Red Sox
They’re in on everybody! This is what we keep hearing about the Red Sox this offseason, that you should consider them serious contenders for every major free agent, and you can forgive Red Sox fans if they chose to believe it when they see it. Starting pitching is the most obvious need for the Red Sox – though if they go big on Juan Soto, no one will complain much about that – and now there’s one fewer option on the board. And one that may have just set the market at a surprisingly high level. Mark Feinsand wrote last night that they were all in on Snell, and now they will likely have to target one of the other high-end lefties available.

Bottom line: The Red Sox haven’t operated much like the Red Sox the last few years. Snell would have been a logical place to start returning to their old ways. They’ll now have to start somewhere else … if they start at all.