When Diamondbacks CEO Derrick Hall was on KTAR radio recently he talked about his plans for rebuilding the Diamondbacks.
He was refreshingly candid about cutting salary and said this about team chemistry, "There's going to be a few moves that we want to make that are addition by subtraction."
I am going to go out on a (fairly strong) limb and suggest that trading Chris Snyder to the Pirates is what he was talking about. Chris isn't exactly known as a strong clubhouse guy and of course with Miggie (Montero) back from injury and playing well there's no need to keep Chris' attitude and salary around.
Have fun in Pittsburgh, one of only two teams with a record worse than the D-backs.
Making this trade even better is the return of legit, real-life reliever, D.J. Carrasco, 31, who's thrown 55 2/3 innings for the Pirates with an ERA of 3.88 and a WHIP of 1.293. His contract for this season is only $950,000 and the D-backs retain his rights for the next two years.
Even better, Carrasco was born in Safford, AZ so when his family and friends comes to see him play the team will benefit from the additional attendance.
The D-backs are taking on some portion of Snyder's salary (totally worth it to dump him) and are reportedly also including a Minor League player who has yet to be identified Pedro Ciriaco. As long as that's not a top prospect, this will likely turn out to be my favorite deal of the bunch for the reason's Hall stated above.
Also coming over from the Pirates are two bench players who aren't doing all that much this season.
Ryan Church, 31, is left-handed outfielder hitting just .182 in 183 plate appearances. Church is under contract for $1.5 million this season and has one more year of arbitration eligibility.
Bobby Crosby, 30, is a right-handed utility infielder who's hitting .224 in 175 plate appearances this season. Crosby hit 22 home runs in 2004 but hasn't cracked 10 in a season since and has one this year. Just saying. Crosby is on a $1 million contract for this year and will be a free agent after the season mercifully ends.
It's not clear what the D-backs will do with either of this guys but if taking them was the price of getting Carrasco and moving Snyder, then so be it.
This deal isn't official yet so keep your fingers crossed.
UPDATE: According to Baseball America, the Diamondbacks are sending Triple-A infielder Pedro Ciriaco to the Pirates in this deal. Here's what they say about him:
Ciriaco has some top-of-the-line tools in his speed and defensive ability. He has yet to put it all together offensively, which made him expendable for the Diamondbacks.
A career .279/.314/.355 hitter entering the season in 2,729 minor league at-bats, Ciriaco has yet to play in the majors since signing in 2003 as a 17-year-old. He got off to a slow start due in part to a ligament injury in his thumb, but he heated up in June and July, hitting a combined .295.
Scouts report Ciriaco's speed, defense and throwing arm remain above-average, and his speed rates a 70 on the 20-80 scale. However, he has little power and is too free of a swinger to get on base enough to become a consistent factor as a basestealer.