The Rangers were able to keep their Rule 5 draft pick, former Giants LHP farmhand Ben Snyder, without putting him in the majors, as they worked out a trade with the Giants to keep Snyder with Texas.
In exchange, the Rangers sent 18-year-old LHP Edwin Escobar, who pitched in the Rookie level Arizona Summer League last year, to San Francisco.
This is a classic example of trading a “sure thing” for a “high-risk, high-reward” player.
Snyder is a lefty who pitched well at Double-A last year and will start the year in Triple-A for Texas. He has ample experience in both starting and relief roles.
Snyder doesn’t throw hard, with an 84-90 mph fastball, but he has good breaking stuff that makes him very tough on lefties. He could be a nice #5 starter, long reliever, or situational lefty–sort of like a poor man’s version of current Rangers pitcher Darren Oliver.
Escobar, on the other hand, is a live arm who struck out over a batter per inning in Rookie ball. He throws consistently in the low 90’s and has two quality offspeed offerings in his curveball and changeup. He could start the year in Low-A for San Francisco, but may see time in extended spring training and head to short-season-A Salem-Keizer in June.
The Giants are giving away a pitcher likely to be a solid but fairly marginal major league contributor, and receiving a guy who could be an impact pitcher, but may also never see Double-A. We’ll have to wait a few years to see who, if anyone, won this deal.