As expected, ace left-hander Blake Snell has opted out of his contract with the Giants to become a free agent. It is the second straight offseason he is hitting the open market after he signed a two-year, $62 million deal with San Francisco last March.

Snell, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, immediately becomes one of the top pitchers available, and the Giants and new president of baseball operations Buster Posey are left with an ace-sized hole to fill.

“Blake’s one of the premier starting pitchers in the big leagues, and has been for a while,” Posey said during his introductory press conference on Oct. 1. “He’s obviously somebody who’s going to be a priority for us to take a hard look at and make a decision as a group.”

Without a regular buildup to the season, Snell struggled early in his age-31 campaign, recording a 9.51 ERA over his first six starts and making two trips to the injured list with a left groin injury.

Snell, though, recaptured his Cy Young form upon returning from his second IL stint, putting together an incredible stretch that saw him post a 1.23 ERA with 114 strikeouts, 30 walks and a .123 opponents’ batting average in 80 1/3 innings over his final 14 starts. His season peaked on Aug. 2, when he struck out 11 in a no-hitter against the Reds that was also the first complete game of his career.

Despite the uneven start to his Giants tenure, Snell said he enjoyed his time in San Francisco and hoped to have a chance to stay for more than one season.

“I love it here,” Snell said in late September. “I think we can be really, really good. I see a lot of promise. I enjoyed being here. We’ll see what happens. I don’t like the whole having to decide and do all that. I just want to be somewhere that wants me, that loves me and will invest in me to be the best player that I can be to help them win. I like it here. I hope it’s here.”

Because Snell turned down a qualifying offer from the Padres last year, the Giants won’t be able to extend him another one this offseason, meaning they won’t be able to recoup a Draft pick if he ends up signing elsewhere.

The Giants will have Logan Webb, Robbie Ray, Jordan Hicks, Kyle Harrison, Hayden Birdsong, Tristan Beck and Landen Roupp under team control next year. But they could use more certainty at the top of their rotation, which should keep them in the mix for Snell or other frontline starters like Corbin Burnes and Max Fried this offseason.

Over 211 starts spanning nine seasons in the Majors, Snell owns a 3.19 ERA with 11.2 strikeouts per nine innings, the career record among pitchers with at least 1,000 innings.