Trading Ian Snell: Pirates Dump Their Head Case

Apparently, the Pittsburgh Pirates didn't give up much by trading Ian Snell. His first two outings with the Seattle Mariners were horrible.

He lasted all of 1 1/3 innings against the Tampa Bay Rays, and gave up three runs. He managed six innings against the New York Yankees, but gave up eight runs.

Snell used to be the Pirates' No. 1 pitcher (in 2007). But today, he is not the person to put up against the likes of James Shields or C.C. Sabathia. Except that the Mariners did.

Perhaps their strategy is to use him as a "straw" starter, count on losing every fifth game, and let their other hurlers pitch against weaker opponents. Otherwise, they had much greater hopes for Snell than the Pirates did.

Snell reminds me of some people I know (my sister for one): Lots of raw talent, but scared of the big stage. He genuinely was most comfortable in the minor leagues, where his talent stood out, and (practically) nobody could touch him.

But he's not the person you want to throw in big games against American League East contenders, one of them the defending pennant champion. Another such person was Oakland's General Manager, Billy Beane, a "five-tool" athlete who "stage frighted" himself out of the majors...as a player.

The exchange of Jack Wilson for Ronny Cedeno at shortstop was a clear downtrade (Cedeno is a strong defender but weaker than Wilson, and his bat makes Wilson look like a slugger by comparison).

But Jeff Clement might be enough (or more than enough) compensation. And if this was a "loss leader" to trade Snell for three prospects, that was a good "loss!"

Those three prospects are Nathan Adcock, Aaron Pribanic, and Brent Lorin. At 6'4" or taller, these are all big pitchers of the type that the Pirates favor. They are all power pitchers, with fastballs well into the 90s.

Snell on the other hand, was "small" for a right handed pitcher at 5'11'' (So is Oakland's Dallas Braden, at 6'1"). And he is more of a "finesse" pitcher, who once struck out 17 players in the minors, and who can strike out 10 or so major leaguers on a good night.

This is more popular with West Coast teams such as the Oakland A's and Seattle Mariners, than with the more traditional hard-throwing, hard-swinging National and American League Central teams like the Pirates (who are very "Midwest" temperamentally, if not geographically).

It's also a situation where quantity probably beats quality. Perhaps one or more of the rookies could do as well (or as poorly) in the majors today as Snell.

More to the point, statistics suggest that at least one of them will eventually be as good as the "old" Snell (who was one win or so above league average). But that number could easily be two or zero.

My own preference would have been to trade Snell (along with Brandon Moss or Steve Pearce) to the other "Washington" team for Lastings Milledge, and keep Nyjer Morgan. But that's a different strategy. In effect, I would have traded back the three rookie pitchers (and Moss) for Morgan.

But the most important thing was to get something FOR Snell, because it was probable that the Pirates would not get much OUT of Snell going forward. That, management did admirably in this case.