Astros Acquire Chris Devenski, Complete Trade with White Sox

The trade which sent Brett Myers to the Chicago White Sox has been completed with Chris Devenski (Class A) being sent to the Houston Astros to finalive the deal which included two other White Sox prospects.

Devenski, 21, is a 6’3″ RHP who has compiled a 6-5 record with 2 saves and a 4.23 ERA for the Kannapolis Intimidators this year.

The trade that sent Myers to Chicago along with cash also brought back two other pitching prospects, Matt Heidenreich and Blair Walters.

At his ceiling, Devenski appears to be an average fourth starter, possibly fifth. A career as a reliever is more realistic, at least at this stage in his career. That is if he makes it to the big leagues at all.

Opposing teams have a .266 average against Devenski this year, who has four pitches in his arsenal yet nothing that would blow hitters away.

A trade that was advertised as the player to be named later being the key piece of the deal now appears to have been more of a salary dump. The White Sox have one of the worst farm systems in baseball so it is hard to expect much, but many fans who follow the team closely may not be thrilled with this deal.

Pitching is desperately needed in the Astros farm system as there are no “elite” arms outside of possibly Jarred Cosart, and I use the term elite loosely.

Myers would not have been on the team when they returned to relevance anyway and they were able to save some money by moving him. If Myers’ option to finish 45 games does not vest, the Astros could save quite a bit of money.

If any of the above prospects turn into anything of value in the future, look at is as a bonus. It is clear now that this move was mainly to dump salary.