Trade Deadline: Travis Snider.

               The Pirates went out and got a bat before the 4:00 trade deadline today. Travis Snider comes over from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for Relief Pitcher, Brad Lincoln.  The deal will put Snider as the new Right Fielder to go along with Andrew McCutchen and Starling Marte. The Pirates Outfield will now feature a 25,24,and 23 year old that are all under control for years to come. Travis Snider is not one of the names Pirate fans have been hearing going into today. Shane Victorino, Shin Soo Choo, and Juan Pierre were among a number of different names the Pirates were linked to the past few weeks. Neal Huntingdon went out and got a wild card player and it could pay off in the end.
         Travis Snider is a 24 year old Outfielder from Toronto. He was widely regarded as one of the top prospects in all of baseball for years, but has struggled to make a name for himself with the Blue Jays. He is a former first round pick and is known to have good power. Snider finally broke through this year in 2012. He was hitting very well in AAA and had been moved to the Major League club recently. Snider has 3 Home Runs in 34 MLB At Bats this season. He comes at a relatively good price.  Brad Lincoln seems to be the pitching version of Snider. He too was a former first round pick that took a while to develop. Lincoln seemed that he had finally had things figured out. Lincoln still has a long way to go into establishing himself as anything of value. He could be a closer, he could still be a starter, or stay as a middle reliever. Lincoln was doing a fine job here, but it was the right time to part ways with the former number 4 overall pick.
                What does this all mean moving forward?  The Pirates have their Outfield set for years to come. Snider could be the corner outfield slugger the Pirates have coveted for some time. Shane Victorino for two months obviously was not worth Brad Lincoln, but Snider for a few seasons was enough for Huntington to pull the trigger.  The 2012 Pirates seem to have a set lineup going forward, and could still not be done trading. Kevin Correia could be a trade candidate. Jose Tabata is now an interesting piece. The Pirates rotation has been very unsettled of late. Veterans AJ Burnett and Wandy Rodriquez seem to be good anchors. Jeff Karstens has proven to be reliable as well. Erik Bedard and James McDonald have not been right for a while.  Do the Pirates give Correia another look, or do they package some mid level prospects with Correia and try to nab another starting pitcher?  Do the Pirates look for a Relief Pitcher to sure up the Bullpen?  Jared Hughes' success made Lincoln expendable in my opinion. They could still look for a Lefty to upgrade over Watson. We are coming up on 14 hours.



PS.
My Lineup moving forward....

1. Marte LF
2. Walker 2B
3. McCutchen CF
4. Jones 1B
5. Snider RF
6. Alvarez 3B
7. Barajas C
8. Barmes SS
Bench-McGehee, McKenry,Harrison,Sutton, and Presley.

Starting Rotation-Burnett,Rodriguez,Karstens,McDonald,Bedard.

Relief-Hanrahan,Grilli,Hughes,Watson,Resop, Daniel McCutchen? Bryan Morris?