The Astros have acquired infielder Jacob Amaya from the Marlins, per The Athletic’s Chandler Rome. In return, Rome adds that the Marlins will receive cash considerations and minor league right-hander Valente Bellozo. Amaya had been designated for assignment by the Marlins earlier this week. Per Rome, Houston has optioned Amaya to Triple-A and placed left-hander Bennett Sousa on the 60-day injured list to make room for the infielder on their 40-man roster.
Amaya, 25, was an eleventh-round pick by the Dodgers in the 2017 draft but made his big league debut with Miami last year after L.A. shipped him to the Marlins in exchange for veteran shortstop Miguel Rojas prior to the 2023 campaign. Amaya’s final season with the Dodgers saw him slash a respectable .261/.369/.427 in 133 games split between the Double- and Triple-A levels, but he took a bit of a step back upon joining the Marlins last year.
In 128 games with the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Jacksonville, Amaya hit just .252/.345/.407 (89 wRC+) during his age-24 season while primarily playing shortstop. Meanwhile, his four-game cup of coffee in the majors left something to be desired as he went 2-for-9 with no walks or extra base hits. On the other hand, his struggles in the majors came in an extremely small sample while his solid glove at shortstop helped to carry his subpar slash line in the minors.
Amaya entered the offseason looking like he could contribute in the big leagues for the Marlins at some point this year, though the additions of Tim Anderson and Vidal Brujan this winter left him largely blocked entering the season. After the youngster struggled at the plate both in camp this spring and in the first games of his return to Jacksonville, the club decided to move on by designating Amaya for assignment to make room for infielder Emmanuel Rivera on the 40-man roster.
Now, Amaya will get a chance to re-establish himself in an Astros organization with minimal infield depth in the upper levels of the minor leagues. Houston has Jose Altuve and Jeremy Pena locked into regular roles up the middle with Mauricio Dubon as their top option off the bench, though Amaya could compete with the likes of Grae Kessinger and David Hensley for a role on the club’s bench as a reserve infielder at some point this season.
To land Amaya, the Astros are giving up Bellozo, who made his pro debut with the club out of Mexico back in 2018. The right-hander split the 2023 campaign between the High-A and Double-A levels, struggling to a 5.55 ERA in 110 1/3 innings despite a solid 22.4% strikeout rate against a strong 6.8% walk rate. Bellozo’s results took a turn for the better late in the season, as he pitched to a 1.72 ERA in his final four appearances last season. He’ll look to build on that late-season hot stretch this season in what figures to be a return to the Double-A level.
Remember when Marlins fan didn’t think they had to trade pitching for a SS because Amaya was the answer?
Gotta be bad for Bellozo’s ego to know that the Marlins received cash considerations and you. To get second billing to cash has got to be a bit deflating.
oh no, yordan alvarez pt. 2
They turned Dubon to a great bench player Amaya next up in line for reclamation project?
Reclamation project? He’s a rookie 25yo kid with only 4 games under his belt lol…
If memory serves, Dubon had a higher ceiling and more of a prospect pedigree than Amaya.
Can he pitch middle relief?
Clearly the last Marlins front office viewed Amaya much better than the present one. When faced with upgrading the middle infield, Amaya never got a whiff of consideration. forcing them to even go outside and throw precious money at Tim Anderson.
That’s because the new front office realized we need more guys with thunder in their bats. No more of these “glove-first, defense-only” players. Nothing personal against Amaya. I hope he does well. He just didn’t fit the profile.
Yawn
The Red Sox should try to make a move to obtain Dubon, a former Sox minor leaguer before being moved through the NL now settling in as an emergency infielder with the Astros.
Can he play 1B lol Jose Abreu plays like a 90 year old blind person both in the field and at the plate. Total waste of a player at this point.
New front office seems to have values that may be more like Tampa. Certainly seem to like picking up players on the cheap and believing they can turn raw athleticism into something. Despite, desperately needing a defense first infield depth player, the new office didn’t value that in Amaya..