Orioles acquire Travis Snider from Pirates

The deal is done. The Orioles have acquired outfielder Travis Snider from the Pirates for minor league left-hander Stephen Tarpley and a player to be named later. To make room for Snider on the 40-man roster, the Orioles have designated catcher Michael Ohlman for assignment. "Snider is a solid, dependable power-hitting outfielder and is an excellent fit for Camden Yards," executive vice president Dan Duquette wrote in a text message. "Should be a good addition to the club at bat and in the field." Tarpley attended the minicamp earlier this month in Sarasota. The Orioles selected him in the third round of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft out of Scottsdale Community College. Tarpley went 3-5 with a 3.68 ERA in 13 games, including 12 starts, last year with short-season Single-A Aberdeen. He was 0-1 with a 2.14 ERA in seven starts with the Gulf Coast League team in 2013. The Pirates were interested in another pitcher, according to a source, before agreeing to Tarpley and the PTBNL, which is believed to be a position player. Snider, who turns 27 on Feb. 2, batted .288/.356/.524 with nine home runs in the second half for the Pirates last season. He finished with a .264/.338/.438 slash line with 15 doubles, one triple, 13 home runs and 38 RBIs in 140 games. Snider, a former first-round pick of the Blue Jays who will make $2.1 million this year, is a career .246/.310/.406 hitter in parts of seven major league seasons. Ohlman, 24, batted .236/.310/.318 with two home runs and 33 RBIs in 113 games with Double-A Bowie last season. He hit .313/.410/.524 with 29 doubles, four triples, 13 home runs and 53 RBIs in 100 games at Single-A Frederick in 2013. The Orioles have gone from five to three catchers on their 40-man roster. Which Oriole will be impacted the most by the trade? We could start with Chris Parmelee, another left-handed hitting outfielder who signed a minor league deal on Monday. The roster already includes Alejandro De Aza and David Lough. Parmelee also can play first base, but the Orioles have an ample supply of backups to Chris Davis. Davis, by the way, also qualifies as a left-handed hitting outfielder. So does Ryan Flaherty in an emergency. Steve Pearce could lose starts in the outfield and Delmon Young already can serve as the right-handed designated hitter. However, the Orioles become a deeper team with Pearce moving around and getting his at-bats in different spots. Pearce won't be keeping the bench warm. He's going to find his way into the lineup. Snider has accumulated the most at-bats in the majors batting ninth (410), where he's a career .273/.322/.437 hitter - his highest average of any month. He's a career .224/.282/.327 hitter in 29 games against the Orioles, a .234/.312/.431 hitter in 41 games against the Red Sox, a .353/.377/.621 hitter in 30 games against the Yankees and a .140/.229/.198 hitter in 26 games against the Rays. He's 1-for 3 against the Blue Jays. I hope you enjoyed your tour of the American League East. Snider's six home runs in 116 at-bats against the Yankees are the most versus any opponent. Snider is a career .146/.204/.208 hitter at Camden Yards, going 7-for-48 with three doubles, four RBIs and 12 strikeouts.