The San Francisco Giants have been well-known this century for their big-time left-handed starting pitchers.

From Barry Zito to Madison Baumgarner to Blake Snell, the torch has been passed from ace to ace with seemingly no end in sight.

That is until Snell triggered the opt-out clause in the contract that he signed with the club last offseason after proving to the baseball world that he is legit and not someone who has good seasons every once in a while.

It has been a ride for the ace throughout his career, suiting up for three teams (so far) and performing better at each stop than he did in his last.

Snell has been named an All-Star once in his career, but has won the Cy Young Award twice, once in the American League and once in the National League, and has done so in dominating fashion.

The lefty is a groundball pitcher by trade, but a strikeout artist at heart, carrying a career K/9 of 11.2 through his nine years in Major League Baseball, an all-time high mark for any pitcher to ever play the sport.

It is the strikeouts that will land Snell a new deal in free agency this winter, while the groundball induction will keep him consistent, depending on the defense behind him.

In a recent article for The Athletic, Tim Britton took a crack at projecting the contracts that the top available free agents will garner this winter, with Snell projected to land a four-year, $110 million deal.

This comes as a surprise with his track record of dominance, as the last deal that Snell signed was for $23.5 million, so this projection from Britton has the ace opting out to only get a $4 million raise.

Snell’s contract should come much closer to the $30 million mark, if not hit that mark on the nose, as he is one of the best available pitchers on the market this year, and could help the rotation of any contending team.

While the Giants do have an ample amount of room on their payroll to land the ace with either figure, they need more than just one ace to remain competitive in the National League West, which could be the second-best division in baseball and may be better suited splitting that money up among multiple younger players.

It will be an interesting winter for more than just San Francisco with Snell now available to take his talents anywhere.

Snow is falling in the mountains Tuesday morning and flurries could arrive in the Denver area overnight, according to the National Weather Service.

NWS forecasters said the second snowfall of the week could continue through the weekend.

A Winter Weather Advisory will be in effect for mountain ranges above 9,000 feet and Jefferson, Douglas, Gilpin, Clear Creek, Park and Elbert counties from 8 p.m. Tuesday to 8 p.m. Wednesday, NWS forecasters said.

According to NWS snow forecasts, between 5 a.m. Tuesday and 5 a.m. Thursday:

• Denver and Arvada could see between 1 and 6 inches of snow;
• Aurora, Lakewood and Littleton could see between 2 and 7 inches of snow;
• Centennial, Golden and Highlands Ranch could see between 3 and 8 inches of snow;
• Parker could see up to 10 inches of snow.

Snow is expected to start around 7 p.m. Tuesday in the metro area as temperatures fall below freezing, forecasters said.

Forecasters said higher elevations, especially in Colorado’s mountains, could see more than a foot of snow by Wednesday night.

• Cordova Pass in southwestern Colorado’s Spanish Peaks could see between 13 and 22 inches of snow;
• Wolf Creek Pass and La Manga Pass in southwestern Colorado’s San Juan Mountains could see between 12 and 22 inches of snow;
• Cucharas Pass, North La Veta Pass and Pass Creek Pass in central Colorado’s Sangre de Cristo Mountains could see between 14 and 23 inches of snow;
• Rabbit Ears Pass, Rocky Mountain National Park and the
  Medicine Bow Mountain Range could see between 3 and 10 inches of snow.

“The unsettled weather pattern will continue Thursday into Saturday with below-normal temperatures and a chance of snow,” NWS forecasters said in a Hazardous Weather Outlook. “There is still some uncertainty with the forecast specifics into later part of this week, so future forecasts could have more snow expected than the current thinking.”

Temperature highs in the Denver area will plummet into the low 30s on Wednesday and Thursday before rising back into the mid-40s on Friday, according to NWS forecasters.

Severe weather shelters in Denver will remain open through Thursday morning, according to city officials.

“Hazardous” weather conditions will start Tuesday evening, especially in the mountains, and could continue in the Denver area through Wednesday’s morning commute, forecasters said in the Hazardous Weather Outlook.

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Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith threw for 363 yards and three touchdowns in Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams, yet in his mind, it wasn’t enough to make up for his mistakes, not even close.

Smith, now in his third season as Seattle’s starter, threw three costly interceptions throughout the day. Two of those picks came deep in the red zone during the fourth quarter, including a 103-yard pick six that gave Los Angeles a 20-13 lead.

The loss isn’t entirely on him, but Smith knows that mistakes like that simply aren’t a recipe for winning football.

“First of all, I want to start off by apologizing to my teammates, really, and to the city, to the organization,” Smith said postgame. “They put a lot of trust in me with my decision-making, and when they put the ball in my hands, when my teammates play the way they played today and to give us a shot to win the game, I’ve got to make sure we do.

“The things I did today, mistakes that I made, they affected us negatively and really cost us the game today. Me knowing myself, I know how much this is going to hurt. I’m going to step it up, though. That’s how I feel about it. I’m going to step it up.”

Part of the reason Smith feels so responsible is seeing his teammates playing so well. Jaxon Smith-Njigba had his best game as a pro with seven receptions for 180 yards and two touchdowns, while practice squad elevation Cody White had two huge receptions for 44 yards. As such, Smith felt that his mistakes made those performances and more go to waste.

“All those situations just led me to think, man, we’ve got to get it done, I’ve got to get it done for my guys and for the city. I really feel like I let everybody down today. I really do.”

Through nine games this season, Smith has completed 68.1 percent of his passes for a league-leading 2,560 yards, 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. While he’s putting up a ton of yards, he’d like to throw more touchdowns and fewer picks going forward.

“If I’m being honest, I could play better and I could correct a lot of things,” Smith said. “That’s the job of the quarterback is to overcome and ultimately to get wins. When we’re in position to get wins, I’ve got to make it happen.”

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