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10 Former Pittsburgh Pirates You Didn’t Know Were Still Playing

By Noah Wright

PITTSBURGH, PA - AUGUST 10: Travis Snider #23 of the Pittsburgh Pirates can't catch a ball hit by Tommy Medica #14 of the San Diego Padres during the eighth inning of their game on August 10, 2014 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Padres defeated the Pirates 8-2. (Photo by David Maxwell/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA - AUGUST 10: Travis Snider #23 of the Pittsburgh Pirates can't catch a ball hit by Tommy Medica #14 of the San Diego Padres during the eighth inning of their game on August 10, 2014 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Padres defeated the Pirates 8-2. (Photo by David Maxwell/Getty Images) /
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PITTSBURGH, PA – MAY 07: Travis Snider #23 of the Pittsburgh Pirates hits a two RBI single in the second inning against the San Francisco Giants during the game at PNC Park May 7, 2014 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA – MAY 07: Travis Snider #23 of the Pittsburgh Pirates hits a two RBI single in the second inning against the San Francisco Giants during the game at PNC Park May 7, 2014 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /

Outfielder Travis Snider

Travis Snider was considered a premier prospect in all of baseball in the late-2000’s. He was easily a consensus top 10 prospect. But the Toronto Blue Jays outfielder never seemed to figure it out. By the 2012 trade deadline, the Jays were ready to move on from Snider as they did a former top prospect for former top prospect swap with the Pirates in exchange for Brad Lincoln.

Snider essentially filled the role of 4th outfielder for the team for the rest of 2012 as well as in 2013. But 2014 would be the year that Snider would get the most playing time in his career, as well as put up pretty good numbers.

Through 359 plate appearances, Snider posted a .264/.338/.438 line, .343 wOBA, and 122 wRC+. He showed some pop, blasting 14 home runs while having a .175 ISO. Plus he only struck out 18.7% of the time while having a healthy 9.5% walk rate.

But with Gregory Polanco then on the rise and left and center field being taken up by Starling Marte and Andrew McCutchen, it seemed like a waste to have a starting-caliber outfielder on the bench. That’s when the Pirates sent Snider to the Baltimore Orioles for pitching prospects Steven Brault and Stephen Tarpley.

Snider opened the 2015 season as one of Baltimore’s starting corner outfielders but struggled. He had just a .659 OPS through 236 plate appearances and was subsequently released in mid-August. That’s when the Pirates swooped back in to pick up Snider and he resumed his role as the team’s 4th outfielder.

But Snider hasn’t appeared in the majors again since then. He’s stuck around with the Triple-A affiliates of the Kansas City Royals, Texas Rangers, New York Mets, Arizona Diamondbacks, while also making a stop with the Long Island Ducks. This past season, Snider played with the Atlanta Braves’ Triple-A affiliate where he only hit .174/.305/.304 with a 69 wRC+. He mainly served as a backup first baseman, which is something he had almost no experience of doing up until this year.

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