Having lost outfielders Nelson Cruz and Nick Markakis in free agency, the Orioles swung a trade with the Pirates on Tuesday to help fill that void.
For Snider it's a return to the division where he got his start in the big leagues. A first round draft pick of the Blue Jays in 2006, he played 242 games for Toronto before being traded to the Pirates during the 2012 season. Snider was the odd man out in Pittsburgh, with the team ready to hand the starting right field job to young stud Gregory Polanco.
The absence of Cruz, who signed with Seattle, and Markakis, who signed with Atlanta, looms large for Baltimore. Their hope is that Snider, who's turning 27 next week, can play solid defence in both corner outfield spots and provide some power at the plate. He'll be in the mix for at-bats in left and right field alongside Alejandro de Aza, David Lough, Steve Pearce, and Delmon Young, with All-Star Adam Jones entrenched in center field. With a salary of $2.1 million for 2015 and another year of arbitration to come, it's a reasonable financial gamble for the Orioles. Plus they didn't have to deal a key piece or a promising prospect to get him.
Snider hit .264 with a .338 OBP in 140 games in 2014 but really stepped up in the second half, putting up a slash line of .288/.356/.524 after the All-Star break and helping the Pirates get into the NL wild-card game. If that's the kind of production the Orioles can get from Snider, they'll be thrilled. They're entering the 2015 season as the defending division champions for the first time since 1998 and they know it will be a challenge to hold onto the AL East crown.
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Israel Fehr is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him at israelfehr@yahoo.ca or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr
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