Astros: Kemmer and Hoyt trades leads to a domino effect

Two minor moves by the Astros that led to the Kyle Tucker promotion and possibly more down the road.

Yesterday the Astros had a productive day in the front office. Before they beat the White Sox 11-4, Jeff Luhnow made a couple of minor deals that didn’t seem like a big deal then. After the Kyle Tucker announcement, it seems that the Astros had a plan. They wanted to clear a spot on the 40-man roster to add Tucker.

Before you think it, I am quite aware that the Astros 40-man roster was at 39 before James Hoyt was traded. They could have added Tucker without the trade, but it appears that the Astros like the open spot. They have had one or two open spots on the 40-man roster all year-long. This could be by design, to have an open spot to acquire a player via waivers or a trade.

The James Hoyt trade.

According to Jake Kaplan, the Astros traded Hoyt to the Indians for Single-A pitcher Tommy DeJuneas. Hoyt was the other player the Astros got in the Evan Gattis trade, showed a lot of promise. With a loaded roster, Hoyt was very rarely used in the big leagues with the Astros.

The 31-year-old reliever has not been given a chance to stick in the big leagues in the Stros bullpen. By trading him to the Indians, who need a reliever, he may get the chance with them. So Luhnow turned a reliever who was not required now into an intriguing arm for the future.

DeJuneas was drafted by the Indians in the 26th round of the 2017 draft. In his first two seasons of professional ball, DeJuneas has a 2-5 record with a 2.93 ERA while striking out 73 hitters in 55 1/3 innings. (Stats via Baseball-Reference) While it’s early in his career, you can tell that DeJuneas fits the style of pitcher the Astros like. We all know how they valued Yordan Alvarez high and were able to steal him from the Dodgers. They have three years to develop DeJuneas, so keep an eye on him.

The Jon Kemmer trade.

They also traded outfielder Jon Kemmer yesterday, but he was not on the 40-man roster. Anyone could have claimed him in the Rule 5 draft this offseason. Instead, he will now join the Twins organization via trade. The Astros don’t get a player in return, but instead, they get cash consideration. Kemmer was a fan favorite of every minor league team he played for but had no chance of making the Houston roster.

By trading Kemmer, this allowed the Astros to promote Alvarez to Triple-A. With Tucker now with the Astros, Alvarez will split time with Myles Straw, Derek Fisher, and Jake Marisnick. They will try to play all of them as much as possible. But would have been difficult with Kemmer still in the picture. Good luck to Kemmer in the future, he was my one of my first interviewees with CTH.

Next: Astros call up phenom Kyle Tucker and demote Jake Marisnick

The 40-man roster now sits at 39, which means we could see a trade some point this July. It’s very doubtful that they would trade any of their top three prospects, you could see them target a catcher or reliever. This team could get better, and the rest of the AL should be getting scared. With a +181 run differential, they should be scared.