According to Baseball Digest Daily, the A’s have acquired Chris Snelling from the Nationals for the just-received Ryan Langerhans. I hope neither guy bought a condo.
Pretty interesting swap between Billy Beane and Jim Bowden. Snelling, aka Doyle (his middle name) in U.S.S. Mariner world, was a cult favorite for many Mariners fans. His inclusion in the Jose Vidro deal this winter was met with great disdain. Oddly, Langerhans shows up as his fifth most comparable player according to Baseball Prospectus.
Langerhans is a little older, and has done a better job staying healthy. Both players can handle multiple outfield positions (well, not at once) and know how to draw a walk. They’ve got eerily similar PECOTA projections, so maybe it was just a matter of each GM preferring to bet on the other guy’s outfielder. I think the best case scenario is that one of these guys develops into Jeromy Burnitz.
Check out Chris Needham’s take on the trade over at Capitol Punishment.
