Advertisement

Astros trade for struggling Yankees reliever in concerning bullpen move

Eric Cole
Eric Cole

Climbing Tal's Hill

Tampa Bay Rays v New York Yankees / Brad Penner/GettyImages

The trade deadline is coming up fast and the Houston Astros have gotten mixed reviews thus far. They did go out and trade for Yusei Kikuchi who should help their rotation depth, but it cost them the type of trade package of prospects that used to get you a decent player with multiple years of team control. Still, there is work to be done before fans can reach a final verdict.

So far, we haven't seen the splashy move for a first baseman that has been hinted at for weeks now. However, the trade deadline is also a time when minor moves can be made to shore up the outside edges of the roster. While not the most exciting moves, they are the ones that can make or break a season if not handled well.

Unfortunately, it is unclear if the Astros accomplished what they needed to when they went out and struck a trade with the Yankees for reliever Caleb Ferguson.

Astros News: Houston takes in Caleb Ferguson in hope that he bounces back

It wasn't THAT long ago when Ferguson was actually a really valuable bullpen arm, as he put up a 1.82 ERA in 37 appearances with the Dodgers in 2022. However, things have not gone nearly after LA traded him to the Yankees before the season, as he has posted a 5.13 ERA in 42 appearances with them in 2024.

The bad news is that Houston is buying low on Ferguson, as he has long struggled with walks and his pitches haven't exactly graded well this season. However, he does get some swing and miss and generates plenty of ground balls. The .319 BABIP against him in New York suggests at least a little bad luck, as well as some consequences for being on a team that willingly employs Gleyber Torres to play defense behind him.

Jokes aside, this is more of a lottery ticket move than an actual roster upgrade. If Houston thinks they can help Ferguson regain the tick on his fastball he has lost and possibly cut his walks down a bit, this could be a nice little move. We won't know how to grade this trade for a bit, as the return for the Yankees isn't yet known beyond a prospect and some international bonus pool money (and this deadline has already had some surprises), but this is a fine move, so long as the Astros aren't banking on Ferguson to figure things out.

More Astros News from Climbing Tal's Hill

Eric Cole

Eric Cole

I started my career writing about baseball covering the Atlanta Braves for SB Nation's Talking Chop back in 2015 which has since been renamed Battery Power. After years of writing for those fine folks, I made the decision to take over as Site Expert at House That Hank Built before becoming a full-time MLB Staff Writer for FanSided in 2023. Along the way, I have been a guest on multiple ESPN radio affiliates as well as 680 The Fan and 92.9 The Game to discuss Braves baseball and especially Braves prospects and was a long-time host on the Battery Power podcast. These days, I continue to write about the Braves as well as covering the Astros, Padres, and Angels with particular expertise with minor league coverage, the MLB Draft, and bashing Anthony Rendon when possible. When I am not writing about or talking about baseball (which is seldom), I am an avid baseball card collector (Maddux and Soroka being my primary personal collections) and I also collect shark teeth. All other sports are mostly dead to me as my Bills have broken my heart too many times.