What to do with Snelling?

With Chris on the club, Hargrove has some decisions to make. Do you sit Winn, or just juggle the lineup and try and get guys as many at-bats as possible?

It is obvious to everyone that Winn/Reed/Ichiro/Snelling are in some ways the same ballplayer. They don't hit with any power, don't walk much, and basically rely on singles and doubles to move around the bases. Unfortunately for the M's, the lack of power throughout the lineup makes it hard to carry 4 players who have to string together hits to score a run.

It is also obvious to everyone that Winn is the odd man out. Of course trading Ichiro is silly, Reed is cheap and is actually playing good CF defense, and Snelling has no trade value. So Bavasi we presume is on the phone trying to work a trade.

The problem with that scenario is that it's hard to trade a guy you aren't playing everyday. If Hargrove plays Snelling and Winn sits on the bench, that doesn't really increase what you get for Winn. Likewise, if you play Winn and Snelling sits on the bench, what's the point of bringing up Snelling, who clearly needs heathly at-bats?

A possible conclusion to be drawn from this is that Bavasi has tried to trade Winn, and has found is value on the market to be so slight, it doesn't matter if he is playing or not.

That is the most likely scenario. We should be surprised if anything of value is generated in a Winn trade.