Deal with Blue Jays secures pitching help
Catcher Maldonado rejoins team in swap with Cubs for Kemp
CLEVELAND — Before their blockbuster for Zack Greinke took baseball by storm, the Astros added six other players — three major leaguers and three prospects — before Wednesday’s trade deadline.
Houston acquired Blue Jays pitchers Joe Biagini and Aaron Sanchez, reacquired catcher Martin Maldonado, and jettisoned backup catcher Max Stassi to the Los Angeles Angels for two rookie ball prospects.
Biagini, a 29-year-old reliever and former Rule 5 pick, is under club control through the 2022 season. Sanchez is slated be an Astro through the 2021 season. Toronto also sent high Class A outfielder Cal Stevenson, a 10th-round pick in the 2018 draft, to the Astros.
Houston has six pitchers scheduled to be free agents after the season: Gerrit Cole, Wade Miley, Hector Rondon, Will Harris, Joe Smith and Collin McHugh. All three pitchers the Astros acquired Wednesday — Greinke, Sanchez and Biagini — are under team control for at least two years.
“We’ve been interested in Sanchez for a long time, interested in Biagini for a long time,” said Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow. “We weren’t really sure where that was going to go. Had been in touch with Toronto on some other things prior to that. That all came together in the last 30 minutes today.”
Houston sent veteran minor league outfielder Derek Fisher to Toronto as a return. Fisher was blocked by an entrenched major league outfield of Michael Brantley, George Springer and Josh Reddick, along with Kyle Tucker’s promise at Class AAA.
Both Blue Jays throw primarily sinkers — the antithesis of the Astros’ four-seam fastball and curveball approach — but how or if Houston will alter their repertoires remains to be seen.
On the surface, Sanchez’s acquisition seems curious. His 14 losses lead the major leagues. His 6.07 ERA is the worst among the sport’s qualified starting pitchers. Sanchez did strike out 10 Rays in 52⁄3 innings of four-run ball during his last start.
Sanchez’s curveball does carry a superior spin rate, one of the Astros’ most sought after qualities. It sits at an average of 2,875 revolutions per minute. Gerrit Cole’s is 2,903, for reference, and Ryan Pressly’s is a major league-best 3,299.
The 27-year-old Sanchez, who in 2016 went 15-2 with an AL-best 3.00 ERA, will “ideally” slot into the Astros’ starting rotation next season, Luhnow said, but his role this season is still to be determined. The general manager said Sanchez is a candidate to start Saturday against the Seattle Mariners at Minute Maid Park.
“His last outing was dominant, and if he does that, it’s going to be hard to keep him out of the rotation,” Luhnow said. “But as we all know, in the postseason it’s just a matter of who takes the innings. It doesn’t matter if you start the first inning or come in the fourth inning. We need good guys that are going to get outs against good teams.”
Biagini has 49 strikeouts in 49 innings this season with a 3.86 ERA but has an apparent inability to miss bats. He has yielded 50 hits and eight home runs in his 49 appearances.
After trading for the defensiveminded catcher at last season’s deadline, Houston reacquired Maldonado from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for Tony Kemp.
The Astros showed interest in Maldonado earlier this month but were beaten out by the Cubs, who acquired the 32-year-old catcher on July 15. Once Willson Contreras returned from the injured list, though, Chicago began shopping Maldonado.
Though he was only an Astro for three months, Maldonado left an indelible impression on the Houston pitching staff and manager A.J. Hinch.
Maldonado’s defense is among the game’s best. His throwing arm earned him the nickname “Machete” because it cuts so many runners down. He arrived in the Astros’ dugout in the middle of Wednesday’s game against the Indians, exchanging hugs with his new teammates.
To clear a spot on the roster, Houston sent Stassi back home. The Yuba City, Calif., native was shipped to the Angels for two rookie ball outfielders: Rainier Rivas and Raider Uceta.
“It’s been pretty crazy. A whirlwind of emotions,” said Stassi, the 28-year-old who was a six-year veteran of the Astros organization. “These guys have been brothers to me since day one. I’ve known these guys for years. This is something I’ll never forget: my time here with these guys and this organization.”