Ryan Langerhans has been traded for the second time this week. The Washington Nationals and the Oakland Athletics have swapped outfielders, sending Chris Snelling to the A’s and Langerhans to the Nats. Two days earlier Langerhans had been traded to the Athletics from the Atlanta Braves for a player to be named later.

Langerhans played in just two games with the Athletics. The first trade came as a shock to Langerhans, as he had been with the Braves organization for nearly a decade. In 1998 he was drafted by the Braves in the third round of the amateur player draft.

“I’m excited about joining the Nationals,” Langerhans said. “I was getting to know the players in Oakland. They are good guys, and I’m going to join good guys in Washington.”

General Manager of the Nationals Jim Bowden said he made the move for defensive purposes.

“In our ballpark and with our young pitching staff, it’s good to have good defense in the outfield. We want to be able to catch the ball, Ryan can play all outfield positions, and he is a plus in all three positions. We thought that was important, especially in our ballpark.”

Though this move may benefit the Nationals defense (Out of place right fielder Ryan Church is still the everyday center fielder) the upper hand in this trade was had by the A’s. Snelling plays with a football mentality, he plays tough and gritty, and he has a very short powerful stroke. He would hit more home runs in McAfee Coliseum. Also Snelling is still just 25 years old, and Langerhans is 27 years old.

The Nationals may not have Langerhans for long though, as Bowden has still expressed interest in making trades. He is said to be interested in the Red Sox’s Wily Mo Pena and a right handed bat off of the bench. Langerhans just hopes that he isn’t the trade bait for the next deal.