Catcher Snyder Acquired

As speculated here earlier, the Pirates acquired catcher Chris Snyder from the Diamondbacks. He'll immediately become the starting catcher for the MLB team.

Snyder is hitting .231/.352/.426 this year; .233/.335/.402 career. He's an average defensive catcher at the MLB level which is a lot more than can be said for Ryan Doumit. Doumit is also hitting worse than Snyder at .258/.329/.412 and is perennially on the disabled list including right now. Snyder is signed through next year with a pricey option for 2012 that probably won't be picked up.Going to Pittsburgh are D.J. Carrasco, Bobby Crosby and Ryan Church. As you well know, Carrasco is the only useful piece out of that bunch. He's gone 2-2 with a 3.88 ERA in 45 games. Crosby hit only .224/.301/.295 and was a minor disaster at all four infield positions. Church hit .182/.240/.312 this year and frankly it's shocking that any major league team would want him.

This is a great move which upgrades the Pirates in 2010 and for the upcoming championship season of 2011. Snyder will never hit for a great average but has walked in 16% of his plate appearances over the last two years, meaning he gets on base at an above average rate for any player let alone a catcher. He also has 20 home run power although he's never been a starter for a full season. Starting Snyder over Doumit clearly is a major upgrade to the defense as well. Doumit's lack of prowess at catching balls in the dirt made the late innitngs a real adventure. With a competent backstop, pitchers are able to confidently rely on their full arsenal including low breaking balls with men on base.

The Pirates apparently will convert Doumit into an outfielder/first baseman. Hasn't this been tried before? Expect problems at any position Doumit plays.

The Diamondbacks threw in Pedro Ciriaco, an AAA infielder who plays good defense and can't hit. He's 24 and hitting .259/.278/.392 in the Pacific Coast League. I'm not sure what role he plays in the organization other than minor league filler.

Time To Get Rid of Ryan Church

What will it take for the Pirates to finally release Ryan Church?

Getting the start yesterday afternoon for the first time in ten days, Church went 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts.

The game brought his season line to .183/.242/.314. Inexplicably, Church has come to the plate 182 times despite this performance.

As Fangraphs' pitch data shows, Church has never been good against the breaking ball but in his 2006-08 heyday was a very good fastball hitter. Coupled with good defense and average speed, that's a recipe for a good fourth outfielder which is what Church was.

I emphasize 'was' because this year, Church has hit worse against the fastball than any player on the team except Jason Jaramillo. Did anyone - did John Russell - really expect him to get a hit Thursday off of Ubaldo Jimenez?

I am not necessarily faulting J.R. for giving Church the start Thursday. His managerial style is to use the whole 25-man roster that's made available to him, giving everyone at least one start a week. That's generally the only way to get the most out of your bench.

Yet this also means that until he's released, major league plate appearances will continue to be wasted on Ryan Church. He's 31, here on a one-year contract, and although eligible for arbitration will certainly be nontendered after the season. Whether it means going with a four-man outfield or calling up one of Indianapolis's outfielders, it's time to release Church outright and eat the remaining $500,000 on his contract.

He's Like A Modern Day Gary Varsho

PITTSBURGH, Pa. / January 11, 2010

Either unknown terrorists have been maliciously spreading 4th oufielder rumors around the NL Central, or the Pirates are close to a deal with Ryan Church. We will assume scenario #2.

This blog's staff wholeheartedly supports the move. Winning a F'ing Championship requires having players like Ryan Church on the roster - a guy who can play all three outfield positions well, is happy with a bench role but is also capable of starting every day.

The 31-year-old Church has put up numbers of .272/.345/.441 for his career while playing mostly in pitcher's parks. He would probably begin the season on the bench with Jeff Clement at first and Milledge-McCutchen-Jones across the outfield. He would serve as a fine insurance policy in case Milledge, Jones or Clement get injured or have disappointing years. Though Church can play a solid center field, DiMaggio's Second Coming started every game there after his 2009 call-up so Church will see most of his playing time at the corners.

The fact that the Pirates are looking for another outfielder is also a promising indication of who might be left off the roster. There's no way the Pirates carry more than five outfielders, so either Brandon Moss or Rule V pick John Raynor will probably not make the team. Hopefully it's Moss. The dude batted fifth for the whole month of April and had one RBI. RBI being a flawed stat and all, you still like to see more than one a month.

Meanwhile, Raynor's offense was absolutely sick for the UNC-Wilmington Seahawks and that's worth two Eric Hinskes. While it's rare for a World F'ing Champion to carry a Rule V player, there's an exception for anyone who averaged more than a run and RBI a game in Seahawk teal.

In conclusion, tie game, top 9, World Series Game 7, you want Church off the bench facing Mariano Rivera rather than Ronny Cedeno. After scoring the winning run, he can stay in in right field for defense moving Jones to first. Hopefully this signing is real and not the terrorists.