SAN FRANCISCO — With the season winding down, the Giants have allowed a few players head home early. Wilmer Flores, Tom Murphy and Mason Black all weren’t going to see the field again this year and have cleaned out had their lockers.

In front of Blake Snell’s locker, a pile of cardboard moving boxes towered over the 6-foot-4 left-hander as he met with reporters Saturday morning and discussed his decision not to make his final start of the season, his looming opt out and the free agency expected to follow.

Snell was scheduled to start the Giants’ penultimate game of the season Saturday against the Cardinals but was scratched late Friday night and replaced by Tristan Beck.

“Just looking at it, I wanted to pitch as long as we were in it and had a shot. We played playoff teams, so I wanted to face them as well. Not playing a playoff team, this game has no meaning,” Snell said. “I think it was just probably the best case. If they were a playoff team, I’d be pitching. The integrity of the game. I want to make sure I give my all. If I have a chance to ruin someone’s playoff hopes, I’d love to do that. Just talked about it with people very close to me and thought that this was best.”

While manager Bob Melvin said he would have liked Snell to make his scheduled start, Snell said the organization was “understanding of it and my position.” The two-time Cy Young winner, 31, all but confirmed plans to opt out of a $30 million salary for 2025 and seek a long-term deal in free agency.

“You look around the league, you see some guys that for whatever reasons … whether it’s workload, whatever, a lot of things that transpire, this is not completely uncommon,” Melvin said. “Sure, we would have liked him to (start), but he came to the decision that he thinks is best for him.”

With six shutout innings Sunday in Kansas City, Snell lowered his ERA in 14 starts since July 9 to a league-best 1.23 with 114 strikeouts in 80⅓ innings. With a 3.21 ERA over all 20 starts, the whole body of work didn’t quite match his Cy Young campaign from 2023, but it looks a whole lot better than it did two months into his tenure in San Francisco, when he hadn’t won a game and had a 9.51 ERA.

Snell didn’t sign until March 19, didn’t make his debut until the fourth series of the season and didn’t transform into the full version of himself until after his second stint on the injured list with a strained groin. He said he hopes his free agency experience is different this winter.

“I think that was more on teams. It wasn’t on me,” Snell said of his slow-developing market. “I think what I was able to accomplish this year will make teams be more aggressive earlier.”

Despite winning the NL Cy Young last season, Snell didn’t get the offer he was looking for and was one of a number of high-profile players who went into spring training still unsigned. Other teams, Snell said, “just wanted to see me continuing to show dominance, which I believe I showed. I think that will make the market different.”