The deal is Ryan Church, Bobby Crosby and DJ Carrasco to the Diamondbacks for Snyder and – according to Jeniffer Langosch – and as-yet-unnamed minor leaguer.
I wouldn’t expect much from the minor leaguer, as none of the players we’re giving up are of much consequence. We’re probably looking at a C level prospect.
At any rate, I think this trade is a win just for the sake of not having to watch Ryan Church play baseball anymore. Beyond that, Crosby is a mediocre backup SS and while DJ Carrasco has been a good reliever, he was available on the scrapheap this year and I’m sure there will be similar relievers on the scrapheap next year.
In Snyder, the Pirates get a catcher that can hit like Ryan Doumit, but plays better defense.
This move works for both sides (though I like it better for the Pirates), as the Diamondbacks clear Snyder’s salary from their books and upgrade a horrible bullpen, while the Pirates upgrade a situation at catcher that would otherwise have been pretty bad until Tony Sanchez is ready for the big leagues.
To fill the space left on the roster by this move, the Pirates have recalled Jeff Clement and Argenis Diaz from AAA. According to Dejan Kovacevic, when Doumit returns from the DL he will split time behind the plate and play some 1B and RF. It’ll be interesting to see if Erik Kratz stays in the Majors in this scenario.
UPDATE: Dejan says the minor leaguer in the deal is AAA SS Pedro Ciriaco, who differs from Argenis Diaz only in that he steals more bases. Like I predicted, not much of a prospect.
