Nationals sign four (including ‘05 Orioles’ 1st Round pick Brandon Snyder) to minor league deals

In a post on Twitter this morning, the Washington Nationals announced that they had signed four free agents to minor league deals with invitations to Spring Training: IF/OF Brandon Snyder; LHP Braulio Lara; RHP Derek Eitel; INF Corban Joseph.

Snyder, 29, and a 2005 Baltimore Orioles’ first round pick (13th overall), played for the Atlanta Braves in 2016, putting up a .239/.255/.652 line, five doubles and four home runs in 37 games and 47 plate appearances.

Over five major league seasons with the O’s, Texas Rangers and Boston Red Sox, the first/third baseman has put up a combined .242/.279/.459 line.

Lara, 27, is a veteran of nine minor league seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays and San Francisco Giants. He split the 2016 campaign between Triple-A Sacramento and the Giants’ organization and SK Wyverns in the Korean Baseball Organization.

Eitel, 28, is an Arizona Diamondbacks’ 2010 17th Round pick, who spent the 2016 campaign (his seventh minor league season) at Triple-A in the San Diego Padres’ system, putting up a 3.67 ERA, 40 walks and 72 Ks in 54 games and 68 ²⁄₃ innings.

Joseph, 28, is a New York Yankees’ 2008 4th Round pick who split the 2016 campaign between Double and Triple-A in the Baltimore Orioles’ organization, hitting 19 doubles and eight homers in 107 games and 408 PAs, over which he put up a combined .315/.369/.442 line.