The Yankees have traded infielder Braden Shewmake to the Astros. Minor league right-hander Wilmy Sanchez is heading to New York in the deal. Both teams have announced the swap.
The Astros have also placed Joey Loperfido on the IL. The move was expected after the outfielder left Friday’s game with a quad injury. Right-hander Jayden Murray was recalled to take Loperfido’s spot. The Astros had been rolling with 12 pitchers, but will now be back to a more traditional 13-man staff.
Shewmake could provide some infield depth to a Houston squad missing multiple shortstops. Jeremy Pena is on the IL with a hamstring injury. Nick Allen left with back spasms on Friday. He’s yet to return to the lineup. Shewmake would be an option to get called up if Allen is forced to the IL.
The Astros are Shewmake’s fourth organization since the start of 2025. After getting designated for assignment by the White Sox, he was claimed by the Royals. Kansas City DFAed him shortly after, and he was scooped up by the Yankees. Shewmake posted an 82 wRC+ in 72 games with New York’s Triple-A affiliate last season. He hit .250 with a couple of doubles and a stolen base in 10 games with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this year.
Sanchez came to Houston as an international free agent in 2022. He steadily worked his way up the system, with generally solid results at each stop. After splitting time as a starter and reliever to begin his pro career, Sanchez transitioned to the bullpen full-time in 2024. He notched a 3.50 ERA across 54 innings between Single-A and High-A. Sanchez pushed his strikeout rate up to 33.9% in his first year as strictly a reliever.
The 2025 campaign was a rough one for Sanchez. He made the jump to Double-A and stumbled to a 6.05 ERA in 46 appearances. After working around some control issues at previous levels, Sanchez’s walk rate spiked to a career-worst 17.5% with Corpus Christi. He’s trimmed that number back to 14.8% through five Double-A outings this year. The results have improved, as Sanchez has allowed just one run over seven innings.
Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images
Bullpen problems solved!
Beer and Baseball.. perfect together!
Don’t forget the yayo!
Does Wilmy throw smoke or shewmake?
Ok.
Well he adds almost nothing a sub .700 OPS in AAA but I guess depth never hurts.
Sub zero does it again! A triple hit!
Any arm will do.
Dana Brown sees something?
Cashman wasting his time as once Cole and Rodon return he has no choice but send Weathers and Gil to bullpen and call up Lagrange in July or August cause the bullpen is a disaster in need of power arms who can strike out guys. Warren all but sealed the 5th spot as he too good to go to bullpen. Maybe Yankees can build a pkg around Jones, Gil and Jazz combination to lure a 3B and quality bullpen arm.
Shewmake was probably fifth or sixth on the shortstop depth chart in New York. Maybe the Astros have more playing time available for him at AAA than the Yankees did. Sanchez is a pitcher who strikes guys out, which probably doesn’t mean anything, but relievers are all fake and frequently come from out of nowhere (and return to nowhere), so toss him on the pile.
Interesting trade. The Yanks and Astros are likely at the table discussing a bigger deal for one of Pena or Paredes and this trade happened to come together in the midst of those discussions.
“The Yanks and Astros are likely at the table discussing a bigger deal for one of Pena or Paredes and this trade happened to come together in the midst of those discussions.”
I don’t think Dana Brown is giving up on Pena yet but I could see a Paredes deal coming together (maybe).
Maybe change of scenery? Believe he’s from the area, at least I know he went to A
Are these trades after the player(s) are DFA’d? There’s been more trades than usual for April.
Jasson Domínguez for Riley O’Brien
Sometimes Shewmake the right trade, but sometimes Shew don’t.
Onetime ATL top prospect who’s bouncing around the league. Drafting strategy and player development, ugh.
Sanchez is at least a prospect, since he is pretty young for AA and gets at least decent results. I don’t understand why Houston traded him for a minor-leaguer, since Shewmake has subpar production even at AAA.
Gruß,
BSHH