Pirates' Chris Snyder Could Be Out For Season

Pirates catcher Chris Snyder will have surgery on his back on Friday, and it's unclear whether he'll be able to return this season.

At this point, the Bucs have catchers Snyder, Ryan Doumit and Jason Jaramillo on the disabled list, and neither Snyder nor Doumit will be back anytime soon. The team's current catchers are Dusty Brown and Wyatt Toregas, two guys who have spent almost all their careers in the minor leagues for a reason.

The Bucs can't possibly let that stand for long, so I would look for them to make a move for someone outside the organization. Another possibility would be to promote Eric Fryer from Class AAA. Fryer is a lot more interesting than Brown or Toregas (or Jaramillo) are, and probably has a better chance of hitting. I was against promoting Fryer when it seemed possible that someone might be back in a couple of weeks, simply because doing so would obligate the Pirates to keep Fryer on the 40-man roster or risk losing him on waivers. But if it's going to be a matter of months rather than weeks, I think it's worth considering.