3:17 p.m.: Houston sends a minor league pitcher Kelly Austin and $750K in international bonus pool space to the Yankees, reports Chandler Rome of The Athletic (at X).
2:02 p.m.: The Astros are getting a lefty reliever Caleb Ferguson from the Yankees in exchange for opportunity and international signing bonus space, reports Jack Curry of the YES Network (X link).
New York acquired Ferguson from the Dodgers last season. He had a rough season, pitching to a 5.13 ERA in 42 appearances. That’s partly due to poor follow-through, as he covered just 62.2 percent of baserunners. However, Ferguson is somewhat more inclined and is issuing trips at a higher clip of 10.3%.
Ferguson is still missing a good number of at-bats. He struck out 26.5% of opponents behind an 11.5% swinging strikeout rate. Each of those are in line with his career marks, although his average fastball velocity of 93.7 MPH is slightly below the 95-96 MPH range he posted the previous two seasons.
In parts of five seasons with the Dodgers before last winter’s trade, Ferguson posted a 3.43 earned run average. He had the same mark in 60 1/3 frames as last season. Ferguson doesn’t have much in the way of classification, so he doesn’t qualify as a position specialist, but he’s a year removed from being a solid middle grounder.
The Astros have been light on lefty relief the past few seasons. They signed Josh Hader to a five-year contract last winter, but he obviously caught the ninth inning. Houston hasn’t had much in the way of a middle innings option for manager Joe Espada, though that hasn’t usually been a priority in their front office. Except for Hader, only a rookie Bryan King again Parker Mushinski they took any action out of the bullpen as southpaws.
New York is similarly bright on left-handed bullpen options, though they could change dramatically in the trade market over the next three hours. Tim Hill represents the only southpaw in their current relief mix. The Yanks could be involved in a top left tackle Tanner Scott or a less exciting target Tanner Banks or an old friend Justin Wilson.
Ferguson made $2.4MM in his final year of arbitration. There is a little less than $800K in salary for the long run. The Yankees pay a 110% payroll tax, so a loaded Ferguson saves them about $2MM. Houston is in the second luxury tax bracket, so they paid a 32% tax – about $250K – to get him. He will be a free agent next season.
More to come.
Source link
