Snell Out; Connolly In

by Charlie Wilmoth on Oct 10, 2005 4:55 PM EDT in News

Ian Snell won't pitch in the Arizona Fall League; Mike Connolly will take his place.

Two articles on this issue, the John Perrotto article above and this one from the Royals' team website, offer conflicting explanations for Snell's withdrawal. Here's Perrotto's:

Snell, 23, was supposed to report to the developmental league over the weekend and be available to pitch starting today. But general manager Dave Littlefield learned that Snell "decided he doesn't want to go."

The decision was not related to fatigue as reported on the league's official Web site. Snell logged 154 innings this season between the Pirates and Class AAA Indianapolis, and Littlefield wanted Snell to continue pitching.

Hmm. Here's Major League Baseball's passive-voiced explanation:

Neither team gave details about the changes, but it was thought fatigue might have played a part in Snell's departure... The Pirates were said to have found Snell's innings count high and decided to bring his season to an end.

Ian Snell is probably a jerk, and I can only speculate as to what's going on here, but it reminds me of this story, summarized by Wilbur Miller:

The controversy involving [J.J.] Davis heated up as 2004 spring training neared. He was out of options and so had to make the roster. It was widely expected that he would not do so, as stories about him having a bad attitude started appearing in the Pgh. media. These stories had the ring of the team trying to create a negative image of him to justify letting him go. For example, it was widely publicized that Davis left Venezuelan winter ball partway through the season, against the team's wishes. Pgh. sportswriters wrote extensively, with quotes from Dave Littlefield, that his decision to "go home" showed he wasn't willing to do what was necessary to succeed in the majors. Later, it came out that, rather than going home, Davis went to Arizona to take a lengthy and grueling conditioning course.

Why was Snell not quoted in either of these articles? I don't know what happened, but the Pirates' past suggests that this is part of a negative-publicity campaign against Snell. They don't like him, for whatever reason (be it his stuff or his personality), and my guess is that they're going to use every excuse to bury him in the bullpen or in the minors, just like they buried J.J. Davis. It's not hard to do if you can fling dirt freely in the media - already, the residents at one Pirate message board are declaring that they want Snell out of the organization.

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Wow

I tend not to read too many Pirates message boards for that very reason - the level of trust fans show in this particular front office is baffling and frustrating. I would immediately distrust anything this organization said or used its willing media minions to propagate reagrding players given their track record.

Walter Young is also another casualty of the organization's perception - besides being big, Walt didn't have much patience or acceptance of the quality of instruction in the organization. But by all accounts he has been a good soldier for the Orioles.

As for Snell - good for him. As for the Spring Training comments, why would you be impressed by someone who was happy or expecting to go down to the minors (and was subsequently released)? I would want players who are pissed off and eager to shove it up the collective ass of management.

Snell could not have done worse than Vogelsong or Meadows this season. He has potential to be a good major league pitcher. But it won't be in Pittsburgh.

by Greg Schuler on Oct 11, 2005 9:11 AM EDT reply actions

Not siding with the Pirates, but where's the dirt?

"Why was Snell not quoted in either of these articles? I don't know what happened, but the Pirates' past suggests that this is part of a negative-publicity campaign against Snell."

Are you saying Snell not being quoted is part of some FO campaign? Or that something else is part of some dirt-flinging campaign. I don't see a whole lot of dirt, any in fact, from Littlefield in the story you link to.

He sounded resigned, perhaps disappointed, and that's what Perotto said. But why wouldn't he be disappointed?

So now the media will ask him over and over again about it, and he'll have answers that will be perceived as negative, when they also may simply be honest.

Snell is clearly petulent, but I get that's no reason to just bury him, but maybe we can wait until they do.

Seriously, enough about JJ Davis. He seems lazy, then wants to be a pitcher, then seems to get it, then goes to winter ball, then decides to join a "grueling" conditioning course, and didn't he quit that too, or somehow have a falling out with Dave Stewart (the former pitcher who was doing the training)? All the while, really NOT BEING A VERY GOOD BALLPLAYER. Remove the Pirates from the equation. Any org would have tired of him sooner or later.

azibuck

by azibuck on Oct 11, 2005 10:47 AM EDT reply actions