Pirates send Travis Snider to Baltimore

The Pittsburgh Pirates needed to make some space in their outfield and sent outfielder Travis Snider to a place that he could play-Baltimore in return for minor league pitcher Stephen Tarpley and a player to be named later.

Snider hit 13 homers last season in playing a career high 140 games (previous high was 111),but with the Pirates wanting to give the right field job to Gregory Polanco and Polanco also hitting from the left side of the plate,Snider was an extra part that had too much value to sit and not enough to play ahead of the talented Polanco.
With Baltimore's loss of Nelson Cruz and Nick Markakis in this off-season,the Orioles could have use for Snider,who may finally have his opportunity to play every day.

The Pirates end of this is Stephen Tarpley,who was the Orioles third rounder in 2013,but did not get out of short-season Aberdeen last year.
Tarpley turns 22 in February and the lefthander will likely be assigned to low A West Virginia to start the season.
Tarpley is reported to have a solid fastball and curve and led the Ironbirds in innings pitched last season.
Tarpley was most likely a top 20 prospect in the Orioles system,but not a top 10 player.
The player to be named later is not likely to be a top prospect either and considering the player is to be named,I'd guess it might be someone from the 2014 draft that will not be transferred until later this summer due to the rules of MLB that a player cannot be traded until one year after his signing.

We'll see how this works out,but I like Baltimore's end of the deal as they get a solid defensive outfielder that might have 20 homer power in a hitter friendly park like Camden Yards.
The Pirates added two players to their system for a player that was likely going to play a smaller role than on last year's team.

Back tomorrow with a possible cleaning of the inbox....

Brad Lincoln for Travis Snider

Neal Huntington made his move to attempt to obtain help for the Pirate offense as he sent reliever Brad Lincoln to Toronto for outfielder Travis Snider in a straight swap

The 24-year-old Snider has spent most of the season with Toronto's AAA affiliate in Las Vegas with a .335/13/56 line that includes an OPS over 1,000, albeit in one of the best hitters parks in Triple-A baseball.
Snider played just ten games for the parent Blue Jays, but in those ten games hit three homers.
The left-handed-hitting outfielder spent parts of 2009-2011 with Toronto with varying degrees of success but never getting more than 300 at-bats with the team after being their top prospect for several years.

Brad Lincoln had been downright devastating to opposing batters as a reliever this season.
Looking at Lincoln's numbers, his overall numbers are excellent and only have risen to that level by his numbers as a starter, which inflates the more than solid overall stats.
Lincoln was the ace in the hole to enable the Pirates to possibly consider a Joel Hanrahan trade today, which you still could if you think Jason Grilli's excellent season can be continued (Knees shaking a bit) to get the team through the season, so I would think this trade would likely keep Hanrahan here for the rest of the playoff run.

I know many of you are enamored with the jaw-dropping effectiveness of Lincoln since moving to the pen and I believe that Brad Lincoln has an excellent chance of becoming a solid closer with the Blue Jays eventually.
It also would not surprise me to see Lincoln given a chance in the 2013 Toronto rotation either and finally, have the opportunity for a full season audition as a starter that he never had in Pittsburgh.
However, this is a chance for the Pirates to add a lefty swinger with power, that is under Pittsburgh control for the next four seasons and the Pirates are set for that term in the outfield with Marte, McCutchen and now Snider.
Putting that group together in Andrew McCutchen's prime with a chance to win long term, not just a one or two-year window-isn't that what Pirates fans said they wanted?

Had this deal been offered two years ago, Pittsburgh fans would have been dancing in the streets, but a string of effectiveness and suddenly it is a risk?
Sure, it is -for both parties.
Snider has never been given a true chance and Lincoln had not either before this season.
What if Snider is one of many touted players to not turn out?
What if Lincoln just was on a hot streak?
Plenty of risk for both sides.

Allow me to ask this question-Assuming that both players are proven, would you trade a setup man (possible future closer) for a left-handed hitting corner outfielder with plus power?
I believe most of us would make that trade.
This is a risk, but one worth taking...

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