Braves sign Travis Snider (yes, Travis Snider) to minor league deal, per report

Travis Snider was taken as the 14th overall pick in the 2006 MLB amateur draft. It took him only about two years to bash his way into the majors, but his career stalled out from there. A low-pop corner outfielder, Snider managed just a 93 wRC+ and 3.3 fWAR over 1,971 career PAs spanning parts of seven seasons, seeing playing time primarily as a platoon or backup option. He last appeared in the majors in 2015, where he managed 0.1 fWAR in over 200 PAs between the Pirates and Orioles.

Snider’s best season came in 2014 with the Pirates, when he put up a 122 wRC+ and 1.6 fWAR in 359 PAs. Snider generally rated pretty well as a corner outfielder earlier in his career, but that’s still the rub: it’s hard to amass value when you’re a corner outfielder that doesn’t play superior defense or mash the snot out of the ball.

But hey, he hasn’t given up the dream — while his major league ledger is empty since then, Snider has managed another 1,175 PAs in Triple-A and a season Atlantic League since, bouncing around five teams in the process. And now, he’s apparently coming to the Braves:

This move is likely just organizational depth at this point, but kudos to Snider, who’s still grinding away at 33. Snider actually signed with the Marlins last July, but there was no minor league season to speak of, and he was released in August. There’s not much reason to expect him to make the majors with the Braves in 2021, but boy, what a story it would be if he did.