The club clears space on its 40-man roster for more moves.
Three words might have guided the Astros leading up to Friday: Remember Ronny Torreyes.
Giveaways are a good thing for teams when they’re magnetic schedules or Beanie Babies that bring more people to the stadium.
They’re bad when they’re talented young players left out for other teams for virtually nothing
The Astros lost three players in the Rule 5 draft last year, two of them permanently to teams inside the division, for, indeed, virtually nothing.
At the same time, they made sure they didn’t lose another player, the uninspiring infielder Torreyes, in what proved to be a costly mistake and perhaps a lesson learned.
This year, the Astros appear better positioned to handle their roster situation. They cleared three spots on their 40-man roster Thursday, when shortstop turned utility man Jonathan Villar was traded to the Brewers — where he’s reunited with former Astros assistant general manager David Stearns, who’s the team’s GM.
Two others, outfielder Robbie Grossman and reliever Luis Cruz, were released. All three players occupied 40-man roster spots, giving the Astros six open spots going into Friday.
By the end of the day Friday, the Astros have to choose which players they want to protect from this year’s Rule 5 draft in De- cember by adding them to the 40-man roster.
Villar was out of options and didn’t have a place to play on the Astros outside of a utility position, general manager Jeff Luhnow said.
The Astros got back a minor league pitcher, Cy Sneed.
Cruz never made it to the majors with the Astros. Grossman never had much of a chance after George Springer came up in April 2014 and could benefit from a fresh start.
He was one of the players the Astros talked about a multiyear deal with, once upon a time.
If a player is selected in the Rule 5 draft (at a cost of $50,000 to the selecting team), he cannot be sent to the minors without his original team having a chance to buy him back (at a cost of $25,000). He has to stay in the big leagues all season, essentially.
So part of the puzzle when determining whom to protect is figuring out who is appealing, and part of the battle is figuring out who might be capable of staying around on a big league roster all year.
Jandel Gustave, a hardthrowing reliever, was taken by the Red Sox and immediately traded to the Royals but returned to the Astros.
One big tool, often foot speed for hitters and pitch speed for pitchers, can make a player highly appealing.
Upside is the allure for most teams, even if the odds of the player sticking aren’t great.
The Astros aren’t expected to use all six roster spots. Four might be the right number to protect this go-round.
Gustave, having been selected once, is expected to receive a 40-man spot. So, too, should 21-year-old righthander David Paulino, who was a great trade pickup in 2013 from the Tigers as part of the Jose Veras deal.
Joe Musgrove, the Astros’ minor league pitcher of the year, led the minors with a 12.38 strikeout-to-walk ratio and gets a spot as well because of his stellar command. He’s 22 with low-90s stuff.
Also, 6-4 lefthander Reymin Guduan, 23, has a big arm and an average of 11.2 strikeouts per nine innings in the minor leagues.