Contention Time = Send down Snider and replace him with?

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Hopefully this post isn’t construed as negative. In-fact its quite the opposite. At the beginning of the season I wanted nothing to do with Travis Snider at the MLB level. It wasn’t so much that I though he wouldn’t hit, I’d just rather save his pre-arb years for more competitive baseball. Low and behold competitive baseball is here (probably to stay). And this time I want Snider out of the majors for some added production in the vs right-handers batting order.

If you take out the first week of the season Snider’s hitting .232 with an OPS under .600 and 0 HR in 76 PA. I’d rather have Travis work out his batting issues down in the minors vs during an early playoff race. So what to do?

Although his defense is shit on by scouts, Adam Lind has yet to commit an error in over 150 MLB games in LF. Let’s slide him into the LF position and open up the DH role. I’d like to see one of the following three scenarios become a reality for the DH role;

1. Kevin Millar is making J.P. look like a genius. He just keeps on hitting and looks very comfortable at the plate. Although his sample vs righties is small (about 20 PA), he’s mashed them for an OPS over 1.100. He’s hitting lefties as well and has probably earned the first crack at increased playing time. Give him a shot in the DH role.

2. Enter Area 51 and bring up Brett Harper. Harper is a longtime minor leaguer (similar to Randy Ruiz) that historically crushes righties. His OPS since 2005 vs RHP is .986. This year he’s leading the 51’s in batting. Maybe a two week trial is in order. You just might luck out and find another Carlos Pena, Jack Cust type.

3. Trade an arm. It seems like anyone that’s ever picked up a baseball can be a serviceable pitcher after spending some time with Arnsberg, so why not trade an arm and bring in a bat?

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