Astros to acquire Yimi Garcia for Bryan De La Cruz

The Astros land their second high-leverage reliever in the past two days in Yimi Garcia.

The Houston Astros are to acquire Yimi Garcia from the Miami Marlins. The return for the Marlins is Triple-A outfielder Bryan De La Cruz, as this makes it their second second trade of the day for one of their highly sought out players.

Garcia is most likely a rental for a slugging minor-league outfielder in De La Cruz, who is now 24-years-old and has not seen the majors yet. The ball club designated right-handed pitcher Austin Pruitt for assignment on Wednesday to open up an active roster spot for newly acquired Rafael Montero.

More from Climbing Tal's Hill

• Just how much better is the Houston Astros playoff rotation than the rest?
• Houston Astros: A Lineup Change to Spark Offense
• Astros prospect Hunter Brown throws 6 shutout innings in debut
• Always faithful Astros World Series champion Josh Reddick defends the title
• Michael Conforto declines Astros’ 2-year, $30 million offer

This also freed up a seat on the 40-man roster, and now, we know it is for Garcia to join the club. While Brandon Bielak, who has options, was on the active roster, it makes sense that they moved on from Pruitt, who no longer has options and has been lackluster.

It was later reported that Pruitt was thrown into the trade, after being DFA’d. The right-hander was the final acquisition under Jeff Luhnow.

The deal is pending but an agreement is in place for the transaction to happen. Bielak would most likely be optioned to free up a 26-man roster slot.

De La Cruz has improved in 2021, as the right-hander has slashed to an OPS of .880 with 12 home runs in 66 games thus far. For Garcia, the right-hander has seen a decrease in spin rate but has posted a 3.47 ERA this season.

The late game arms now consist of Yimi Garcia, Kendall Graveman and Ryan Pressly; a pretty high-leverage group. I called for the Astros to acquire Garcia in the past week, and now, he is here even without Starling Marte.