Snell retired after the Cardinals sent him to minor league camp in Spring Training. The Cardinals officially released him and before long, he was considering a return. The 29-year-old posted a 3.76 ERA with 7.7 K/9 in 208 innings for the 2007 Pirates and was rewarded with a three-year, $8.6MM extension. However, from 2008-10, Snell posted a 5.31 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 5.0 BB/9 for the Pirates and Mariners.

• MLB.com's Doug Miller says some players can't be replaced because they do more than put up numbers. Bobby Abreu, Mark Ellis and Craig Counsell are in Miller's select group.
• A Boston law firm, Bingham McCutchen, is suing Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, according to Bill Shaikin of the LA Times.
• The Cardinals officially granted Ian Snell his release so that he can pursue a job elsewhere, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (on Twitter). Snell, who retired about a month ago, now says he's considering a return.

"He told the world he's retiring, and that's what we thought was going to happen," said Joe Sroba, Snell's agent. Sroba said further news about a potential return could come within a week, and that the Cardinals were a possibility. Snell had been in camp with St. Louis as a non-roster player before retiring.

Snell, 29, had his best season with the Pirates in 2007, when he posted a 3.76 ERA in 208 innings. That performance earned him a three-year, $8.6MM extension, but he quickly lost effectiveness.

Snell's best season was 2007, when as a 25-year-old he posted a 3.76 ERA in 208 innings.  That performance earned him a three-year, $8.6MM extension, but he quickly lost effectiveness.

• Cardinals non-roster invitee Ian Snell, signed to a minor league deal, cited Redbirds pitching coach Dave Duncan as an incentive for him signing with St. Louis, writes Matthew Leach of MLB.com. Duncan, of course, is known for his penchant for helping down-on-their-luck pitchers get their careers back on track. Snell, who spent 2010 with the Mariners, has had a rough go of it since posting 14 wins with the Pirates back in 2006.
• Is Albert Pujols worth upwards of $30MM for as many as 10 years? That's the question examined at length by Tim Logan of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The baseball community has made great strides in calculating how a player's performance translates to wins in recent years, but even still, it can be tough to pinpoint the connection between wins and return on investment (financially), Logan writes.
• Cubs right-hander Jeff Samardzija is out of minor league options, writes Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune, and is therefore all but assured of a roster spot (likely in the bullpen) coming out of Spring Training, lest he be exposed to waivers. Samardzija has been shuttled between the minors and Majors, as well as starting and relieving, since being drafted by the Cubs in the fifth round in 2006.
• Prince Fielder is probably hoping Pujols signs an extension before hitting free agency so that Fielder's market value isn't diminished next offseason, writes Bill Shaikin of the LA Times. Fielder is scheduled to become a free agent after this season, and with fewer teams in need of a premier first baseman as of now, he'll need all the leverage he can get, according to Shaikin.

Batista, 40 in February, turned in a 3.70 ERA with 6.0 K/9 and 4.9 BB/9 for the Nationals last season.  In 16 major league seasons with eight different clubs, Batista owns a 4.51 ERA with 5.8 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9.

Snell, 29, was part of a seven-player swap between the Mariners and the Pirates in 2009.  The hurler cleared waivers and accepted a Triple-A assignment after being DFA'd by the M's in June.  Snell has a career 4.80 ERA with 7.2 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9.  

• Many familiar names have been granted free agency, including Ian Snell, Cla Meredith, Micah Owings, Fernando Nieve, Dan Meyer, Ryan Garko, Mike Jacobs, and Jason Bergmann.
• The Royals released reliever Matt Herges. Herges didn't reach the majors this season, but had a solid year in 2009, recording a 3.38 ERA in 30 games between Cleveland and Colorado.
• Yordany Ramirez, a long-time minor league outfielder, was re-signed by the Astros. After struggling as a hitter in three Triple-A seasons, the 26-year-old is being converted to pitching.

• Mychael Urban of CSNBayArea.com explains why he believes the Giants should acquire bullpen help.
• Dave Cameron of U.S.S. Mariner wonders (via Twitter) if the Mariners and Blue Jays could swap two recently-designated players: Ian Snell and Edwin Encarnacion.
• D'Backs GM Josh Byrnes told Jack Curry of the YES Network that he will need "very significant players" in return for some of his stars (Twitter link). Sounds like Dan Haren will be hard to obtain this summer.
• Mariano Rivera told Joel Sherman of the New York Post that he doesn't want to think about his contract (it expires after the season) but would consider signing a one-year deal like Andy Pettitte.
• Wilson Ramos is thought of as the kind of prospect that could help the Twins pry Cliff Lee from the Mariners. But as Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune notes, the catcher will miss about a week with a strained oblique.
• Pat Andriola of FanGraphs names winners and losers from some 2008 deadline deals.
• Most expect the D'Backs to continue selling, but Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports notes (via Twitter) that no scouts made a special trip to see Edwin Jackson's most recent start.
• The Red Sox signed Jay Broughton from the independent league Calgary Vipers, according to Sean Myers of the Calgary Herald. The 23-year-old had enrolled in grad school, but he quit and Red Sox assistant GM Allard Baird took notice and signed him.
• Alex Speier of WEEI.com explains that the Dodgers, who lost to Clay Buchholz last night, nearly drafted the right-hander in the 2005 draft.
• R.J. Anderson of FanGraphs says the Braves could improve by adding an outfielder before the trade deadline. Few Braves fans would argue that GM Frank Wren shouldn't consider players like Luke Scott and David DeJesus if the price is right.
• MLB.com's Joe Frisaro says the Marlins need to solidify their bullpen if they're going to contend.

TUESDAY: The Mariners designated Ian Snell for assignment and called up Brian Sweeney, according to the team. Snell, who came to Seattle last summer in the Jack Wilson trade, started respectably for the Mariners, but has been ineffective of late. He has allowed at least three earned runs in each of his last four appearances with 11 walks, five strikeouts and a 11.77 ERA in that time.

For the season, the 28-year-old right-hander has a 6.41 ERA with 5.1 K/9 and 4.9 BB/9 in 46.1 innings. Snell got off to a similar start last year before the Pirates demoted him to Triple A and saw him dominate for six starts. Snell has promise, but his recent struggles suggest he isn't close to fulfilling it.

• Nationals scouting director Kris Kline tells MASN's Ben Goessling that the club is optimistic about finalizing a deal with Bryce Harper earlier in the summer than they signed Stephen Strasburg last season.
• Tony La Russa suggests that the Cardinals could pursue starting pitching, writes Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. We've heard this a couple times since both Brad Penny and Kyle Lohse hit the disabled list.
• With this year's draft barely in the books, MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo looks ahead to ten top prospects that could be drafted in 2011.
• Gregg Zaun confirmed today that he will have season-ending surgery on his shoulder, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. At the time of Zaun's injury, we looked at the Brewers' backstop options.
• Dave Cameron of U.S.S. Mariner (via Twitter) has trouble believing the Phillies would have chosen the Mariners' package for Cliff Lee over a Yankees' offer headed by Jesus Montero, as Ken Rosenthal reported earlier today.
• Cameron also predicts that Ian Snell will be designated for assignment after a disastrous outing tonight in Texas (Twitter link).

"You don't need to have a lefty in the 'pen just because it's obvious that lefties do well against lefty hitters," Wetteland told MLB.com's Doug Miller last week.

Wetteland knows that as well as anyone. The righty allowed a .223/.292/.346 career line against lefty batters – not far from the line Wetteland allowed against righties. But not every reliever is as well-equipped to shut batters on both sides of the plate down.

To find out if Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik needs to add a left-handed reliever, let's see how the bullpen has done against lefties. Five weeks of data isn't much, so let's take a look at the numbers Mariners relievers have posted against lefties in their respective careers.

• Shawn Kelley – He has done much better against lefties in his career, limiting them to a .219/.268/.314 line.
• Sean White – His .219/.312/.322 line against lefties is quite good. However, left-handed batters are hitting just .225 on balls in play and homering on 4.5% of their fly balls against White. Both of those figures can be expected to rise and when they do, White's slash line will likely rise, too.
• David Aardsma – His .248/.363/.331 line is actually better than his line against righties.
• Kanekoa Texeira – Though Texeira has faced lefties just 26 times in the majors, his .208/.269/.292 line looks promising. Texeira struck out 106 batters in as many innings against lefties in his minor league career.
• Brandon League – His .284/.343/.453 line against lefties does not inspire much confidence, but League has allowed homers on 18.4% of fly balls against him and allowed a batting average of .321 on balls in play, which suggests he has been unlucky against lefties in his career.
• Mark Lowe – He has an ugly .298/.382/.514 line against lefties in his career. As Dave Cameron of U.S.S. Mariner noted earlier in the month, Lowe is "something of a glorified right-handed specialist." Lowe is now on the DL with an inflamed disc in his lower back.
• Jesus Colome – Lefties have hit .275/.382/.449 against Colome, so the Mariners should minimize his exposure to lefties.
• Ian Snell – Snell has allowed lefties to post a .294/.386/.484 line against him in his career. He should face righties whenever possible.

It turns out that Don Wakamatsu has more than enough weapons to retire opposing left-handers, especially now that Kelley's back on the team. But the Mariners have to use their 'pen carefully. Aardsma, Texeira and Kelley can succeed against lefty batters, but Colome, Snell and eventually Lowe should not face lefties in close games. The Mariners have their share of issues these days and their bullpen could be better, but Zduriencik can ignore conventional wisdom and proceed without acquiring a lefty.

12:28pm: Kovacevic hears that the Pirates are contributing a "significant amount" of cash in the deal. 

12:16pm: ESPN's Buster Olney believes the Mariners might be inclined to exercise Wilson's 2010 option, which wasn't likely for the Pirates.  Jack Zduriencik's comments support this:  "As we move forward over the next few years it is nice to know that we have solidified the shortstop position."

11:58am: Kovacevic says Cedeno's the only player who will report to the Pirates. Clement will head to Triple A, the others to A ball. 

MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo calls it a "pretty good haul" for the Pirates and Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus says it's the best deal the Pirates have made yet. 

11:45am: Kovacevic says the Mariners acquire Wilson and Ian Snell for Clement, Ronny Cedeno, Aaron Pribanic, Brett Lorin and Nathan Adcock.

11:41am: Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says the Mariners acquire Jack Wilson in the deal.

11:40am: Ed Price of AOL FanHouse hears that the Pirates are getting Jeff Clement from the Mariners along with other minor leaguers.

WEDNESDAY, 10:14am: Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports report that the Indians and Rays say they're not involved in talks for Clement, who was told last night that he's about to be dealt.

TUESDAY, 11:36pm: DH/catcher Jeff Clement was pulled from the Tacoma Rainiers' lineup in the third inning tonight, according to Ryan Divish of The News Tribune.  His analysis:

I have it on pretty reliable source that it is not injury related.  Clement has been rumored to be part of possible trades already this season and maybe he is part of a package deal.  Or perhaps, he is being called up in place of another player for the Mariners, who might be getting dealt.

Meanwhile trade target Jarrod Washburn just wrapped up what could be his last start with the Mariners.  He tossed seven strong innings to lower his ERA to a sparkling 2.64 in front of scouts from the Yankees, Phillies, Brewers, and Rangers.  Washburn, a Boras client and impending free agent, sure knows how to time his best seasons.

• The Blue Jays reportedly asked for Erick Aybar, Jered Weaver or Joe Saunders, Brandon Wood, and one of either Trevor Reckling or Peter Bourjos.
• The Angels might not have the top-flight pitching prospects the Indians desire in return for Lee.
• The second tier of their pursuits for a starter could include Aaron Harang, Bronson Arroyo, Jarrod Washburn, Jon Garland, or Ian Snell. Chances for this kind of deal are slim, DiGiovanna notes.
• Among relief help being sought by the Angels: Brandon League, Scott Downs, George Sherrill and Chad Qualls. The Halos' offers for Michael Wuertz and Heath Bell have apparently been turned down.

• The Padres designated catcher Jose Lobaton for assignment, according to MLB.com's Corey Brock. The 24-year-old was 3 for 17 without any walks or extra base hits in limited playing time.
• Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe lists Boston's top five deadline deals of all time. 
• ESPN.com's Rob Neyer agrees with Erik Manning of FanGraphs and Joe Pawlikowski of River Ave. Blues: The Yanks shouldn't trade for Bronson Arroyo. 
• Roger Hensley of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says the Cards are putting Troy Glaus' rehab on hold because of back pain. 
• Jon Heyman of SI.com reports that the Yankees are talking to the Pirates about Ian Snell. As Heyman says, the Yankees are considering many pitchers at this point.
• Tyler Hissey says Cliff Lee should command nearly as much as Roy Halladay in a trade.