Cubs Sign Ryan LaHair, also re-up with Brad Snyder

Today, the Cubs made the first of what is likely to be several Minor League deals, as they signed former Mariner farmhand Ryan Lahair. LaHair, is a left handed hitting 1B that has some pop in his bat.

LaHair was once considered to be a rising star in the Mariners organization as he won Minor League MVP in 2006, when he posted a .309 average with 16 homers and 74 RBI’s. Although since then, his performance has fallen off a bit as last year he had a .289/.354 /.530 line.

During the course of his career he has only played 45 major league games and posted a .250 average with 3 homers and 10 RBI’s.

LaHair will compete with other power hitting lefties Micah Hoffpauir, and Brad Snyder for a spot on the bench. Snyder recently re-signed with the Cubs with an invite to spring training.

Snyder is an outfielder who has looked impressive in the Minor Leagues. Last year for the Iowa Cubs he had a line of .278/.335/.549 with 14 homers and 44 RBI’s. Cubs officials feel that he isn’t too far away from making it on the 25 man roster.

There is a good chance that with the signing of LaHair and Snyder appearing to be close to the majors, that Micah Hoffpauir could be the made available by the Cubs.

Hoffpauir, last year had a line of .239/.300/.427 with 10 homers and 35 RBI’s in 105 games with the Cubs last year.