Astros sign free agent C Chris Snyder
Former Univ. of Houston product agrees to one-year deal
HOUSTON, TX - The Houston Astros have agreed to terms on a one-year contract with free agent catcher Chris Snyder, General Manager Jeff Luhnow announced today.
The deal also includes a mutual option for 2013. Additional terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Snyder, 30, hit .271 (26x96) with three home runs, 17 RBI and a .376 on-base percentage in 34 games for the Pirates last season. He was limited to those 34 games due to surgery on his lower back in June, which sidelined him for the remainder of the season. Snyder is just one year removed from collecting 48 RBI and hitting 15 home runs in 2010, a home run total that ranked fourth among NL catchers that season. His career-high 16 home runs in 2008 ranked tied for third among NL catchers.
Defensively, Snyder’s .998 career fielding percent is tops all-time in Major League history among catchers with 600 or more games. Snyder’s 240-game errorless streak, which spanned from August of 2007 until June of 2010, ranks as the third-longest by a catcher in Major League history.
A native Houstonian, Snyder graduated from Spring Woods HS and later attended the University of Houston where he hit .343 during his junior season in 2002 with a school-record 71 RBI. He has over seven years of Major League service time, coming with Arizona (2004-10) and Pittsburgh (2010-11), and owns a career .231 (426x1846) average with 70 home runs, 273 RBI and a .333 on-base percentage.