Travis Snider to the Baltimore Orioles

In what is now the most high-profile move made by the team this off season, the Baltimore Orioles completed a trade last night as they sent minor league prospect Stephen Tarpley to Pittsburgh in exchange for outfielder Travis Snider. While this has not been expressed, it would stand to reason that Snider will help to displace the absence of Nick Markakis and/or Nelson Cruz. Snider is a career .246 hitter with a career OBP of .310. However, he did get on base at a .338 clip last year, with his walks going up.

Courtesy of David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports

Snider probably isn’t exactly the move for which Orioles fans were hoping. The O’s discussed a trade for Snider at the winter meetings in December, and at the time reliever Brian Matusz was apparently the player coveted by Pittsburgh. However apparently the price has now gone down, with the O’s getting away with just a low level minor leaguer (Tarpley), and a player to be named later.

People might ask why the price going down is significant, and it’s a legitimate point. However keep in mind that Tarpley wasn’t on the 40-man roster. So the O’s have acquired what probably amounts to a starter, and didn’t surrender one in return. Furthermore as I’ve said all off season, Dan Duquette has earned the fans’ trust – regardless of what went on between him and Toronto. So my advice would be to just go with it.

Snider is 26 years old, although one drawback is that his contract will be up after the season. I would submit that it’ll be important for Snider to get a full slate of reps in spring training, as it’ll give him an opportunity to break into playing for a new team. He was drafted by Toronto in 2006, and made his debut in 2008. He was traded to Pittsburgh during the 2012 season, and now he’s with the Orioles.