PITTSBURGH – A trade market that was late to develop began to heat up on Friday night, and as expected, the Pirates had irons in the fire.

A source close to the situation confirmed that the team had acquired catcher Chris Snyder, a minor league shortstop Pedro Ciriaco and cash considerations from the Arizona Diamondbacks in return for pitcher D.J. Carrasco, outfielder Ryan Church and infielder Bobby Crosby. The deal was expected to become official later today.

The 29-year-old veteran will fill a need at behind the plate especially at the right side, where 30-year-old rookie Erik Kratz is the best option at this time.

This season Snyder has a .231 batting average, 10 home runs and 32 RBI in 65 games. He struck out 61 times in 195 at-bats. His home run total is one more than the backstop tandem of Ryan Doumit and Jason Jaramillo combined.

Snyder threw out 20 percent (12 of 59) of would-be base-stealers, which is 10 percent less than his career number but still slightly better than the the Pirates team total this season.

The former second-round draft pick will be paid approximately $7.25 million on a contact that extends through next season. The team has a $6.75-million option for the 2012 campaign. There is a $750,000 buyout price.

In 87 games, Ciriaco hit .259 and six homers for Class AAA Reno this season. He also stole 14 bases and scored 44 runs. He was chosen to play in the annual Futures Game earlier this month.

As reported in this space earlier this week, the team would like to move either pitchers Zach Duke or Paul Maholm in the next few hours. The market for second-tier starters isn’t as strong as anticipated, I am told, as buyers are reluctant to part with young mound prospects in return. Furthermore, Maholm saw his value drop against the Colorado Rockies on Thursday afternoon, when he allowed season-highs in hits and runs allowed.

         Relievers Octavio Dotel and Javier Lopez remain available as well, although there's no great urgency to move either one.