Astros Select Braden Shewmake
The Astros announced that they have selected the contract of infielder Braden Shewmake. He’ll take the active roster spot of infielder Nick Allen, who has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to back spasms, retroactive to April 19th. To open a 40-man spot, right-hander Cristian Javier has been transferred to the 60-day injured list.
Shewmake, 28, was just acquired from the Yankees yesterday. The Yanks had outrighted him off their 40-man roster in February, so he wasn’t immediately added to Houston’s roster at the time of the trade. It seemed possible at the time of the deal that Shewmake was acquired to replace Allen as the club’s bench infielder and that has indeed come to pass.
The players have similar profiles as glove-first guys with light bats. Shewmake has a .118/.127/.191 batting line in 71 big league plate appearances. His .241/.305/.384 line at Triple-A is better but still not good, translating to a 78 wRC+, indicating he has been 22% below average at that level. But he has other attributes. Over his 303 Triple-A games, he has stolen 52 bases, while getting caught only four times. He has extensive shortstop experience, with plenty of time at second and third base as well.
The Astros came into the season with an infield logjam but shortstop Jeremy Peña is now on the IL, which has alleviated that. Carlos Correa has moved from third base to shortstop, which has allowed Isaac Paredes to take over at the hot corner. The Astros can use Shewmake as a late-game defensive replacement or bounce him around when they want to give guys days off, which is how Allen was being used. When Peña and/or Allen get healthy, Shewmake is out of options and may not be able to hang onto his roster spot.
Javier was initially placed on the 15-day IL due to a shoulder strain a little over a week ago. This transfer means he is ineligible for reinstatement until early June. Just yesterday, general manager Dana Brown said he expected Javier and Hunter Brown to return from their respective shoulder strains in late May to early June.
Today’s transaction closes off the possibility of Javier being back in the majors in late May, but if he is healthy by then, he could go out on a minor league rehab assignment. Such assignments come with a 30-day maximum for pitchers.
Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images
Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier Projected To Return In 5-7 Weeks
In an interview on SportsTalk790 radio today, Astros general manager Dana Brown said right-handers Hunter Brown and Cristian Javier are tentatively expected to return to Houston’s rotation by late May or early June. (Hat tip to MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart for the link.) The timeline for both pitchers is still fluid, so the GM thinks their returns could “hopefully…be a little sooner.”
The Astros are probably due some good health news, given how the team has been hit hard by injuries in the season’s first month. Houston’s injury list consists of 14 players, and Brown and Javier are two of 10 pitchers on either the 15-day or 60-day IL. The depleted and makeshift rotation is down to Mike Burrows, Lance McCullers Jr., Spencer Arrighetti, and Peter Lambert, whose minor league contract was just selected on Thursday (Lambert then allowed four runs over five innings in Friday’s 9-4 loss to the Cardinals.)
Brown and Javier were each sidelined by Grade 2 shoulder strains. Brown posted an 0.84 ERA over his first two starts before being placed on the 15-day IL on April 2, while Javier joined him a week later after struggling to a 12.54 ERA over his first three starts and 9 1/3 innings. No tentative recovery timelines were given at the time of the IL placements, and neither pitcher has resumed throwing, which is why Dana Brown’s projection was fairly broad.
Assuming no setbacks, Brown and Javier each face the standard build-up process of playing catch, bullpen sessions, live batting practice sessions, and surely at least a couple of minor league rehab games given the length of their IL stints. Even if the best-case scenario is late May, however, that still means the Astros will be scrambling for rotation innings for upwards of another month.
All of the injuries have unsurprisingly led to a rough start to Houston’s season, as the team is now 8-15 after today’s extra-innings 7-5 loss to St. Louis. The Astros are 10 games into a stretch of 13 games in 13 days, and some relief may come for the pitching staff in terms of off-days on April 23 and 27.
Astros Select J.P. France, Taylor Trammell
April 10th: The Astros announced the expected moves today. Trammell and France have been added, with Blanco transferred to the 60-day IL. Javier’s injury was listed as a grade two shoulder strain and Meyers’ is a grade two oblique strain. Both are retroactive to April 9th.
April 9th, 11:13 am: Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports that the Astros are also planning to select outfielder Taylor Trammell. This almost certainly indicates that fellow outfielder Jake Meyers is headed to the injured list. Meyers exited on Wednesday with lower back tightness. Like France, Trammell will require a spot on the 40-man roster, and currently, Houston only has one opening. That means the Astros will have to free up one more space to add both France and Trammell before tomorrow’s game. Ronel Blanco, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery last June, is a likely candidate to move from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL.
Trammell, 28, is a five-year MLB veteran. After bouncing from the Mariners to the Dodgers to the Yankees in 2024, he was traded to the Astros ahead of the 2025 campaign. A pair of IL stints limited him to 52 games for Houston, though that was still a career-high for the lefty batter. He slashed .197/.296/.333 with an 80 wRC+, mostly splitting his time between left and center field. He was DFA’d and sent outright to Triple-A after the season. However, a hot spring (.904 OPS, 136 wRC+) and an even hotter start for Sugar Land (1.003 OPS, 177 wRC+) have earned him another chance in the majors. He’s likely to serve as at least the strong half of a platoon in center field while Meyers is on the shelf.
10:00 am: The Astros will select J.P. France’s contract from Triple-A Sugar Land before tomorrow’s game against the Mariners, reports Chandler Rome of The Athletic. He will be able to take the 40-man roster spot left vacant after Roddery Muñoz was designated for assignment on Monday.
As for the 26-man roster, there’s a good chance France is replacing Cristian Javier, who exited his start on Wednesday with shoulder tightness. It’s also possible the Astros won’t be ready to make a decision about Javier by tomorrow, but that they still want a fresh arm for the bullpen, given the workload their relievers shouldered in yesterday’s 9-1 loss. In that case, they might consider optioning AJ Blubaugh, who has given up nine runs on nine hits in his last two outings. Meanwhile, Spencer Arrighetti is the most likely candidate for a call-up if Houston needs a longer-term replacement for Javier in the rotation. Jason Alexander is also available at Triple-A.
France, 31, made 23 starts for the Astros in 2023, his rookie campaign. Unfortunately, a shoulder injury ruined his next two seasons. He made just seven appearances for Houston between 2024 and ’25 and struggled in a handful of minor league outings as well. The team designated him for assignment this past offseason and sent him outright to Triple-A. However, if the early results from 2026 are any indication, France seems to be throwing with a healthy shoulder again. He struck out 13 batters in 11 2/3innings this spring and another eight in his first 5 1/3 frames for the Sugar Land Space Cowboys. The righty has yet to allow a run at Triple-A, with just one walk and two hits allowed to the 19 batters he’s faced.
If France can get back to pitching the way he did in 2023 – whether he’s starting or working in long relief – the Astros will surely be grateful. Through 13 games, Houston’s pitchers have the highest ERA in the AL (6.05). Walks and home runs have both been serious problems. What’s more, two of the team’s most important arms are on the injured list: Hunter Brown (shoulder strain) and Josh Hader (biceps tendinitis). Losing Javier for any period of time would only further weaken a beleaguered staff. While the team still has depth arms to call on for the rotation and the bullpen, those options are starting to wear thin.
Cristian Javier Exits Start Due To Shoulder Tightness
Astros right-hander Cristian Javier was removed from today’s game after just one inning due to shoulder tightness. As relayed by Chandler Rome of The Athletic, Javier was warming up for the second inning but summoned catcher Christian Vázquez and the training staff to the mound before departing.
At this point, it’s too early to know any details about Javier’s injury or its severity. However, even a minor absence would be a big blow for the Astros. Just a few days ago, they lost their ace, as Hunter Brown landed on the injured list due to a shoulder strain.
Even with Brown’s injury, the Astros still planned to go for a six-man rotation in the near future. On Friday, they start a stretch of playing 13 games in a row. Going to a six-man rotation would lower the impact on Tatsuya Imai, who is still in the first few weeks of his MLB career. In Japan, starting pitchers normally throw once a week as opposed to the five-man rotations that are common in North America.
Imai, Javier, Burrows and Lance McCullers Jr. would have accounted for four spots. The other two would have been more up in the air. Cody Bolton was just recalled to make a spot start and could be in the mix. Spencer Arrighetti is on optional assignment but could be recalled. Ryan Weiss, AJ Blubaugh, and Kai-Wei Teng have some starting experience but have been pitching in the big league bullpen. Blubaugh came in to replace Javier today but allowed five runs in the second and was replaced in the third. He threw 39 pitches in his one inning of work.
Subtracting Javier would further require the Astros to reach even further into their depth, assuming they still want to go six deep in the rotation. Weiss threw 62 pitches in a long relief outing Monday, so he’s fairly stretched out, though he allowed six earned runs in 2 2/3 innings. Houston also has Jason Alexander, Colton Gordon and Miguel Ullola on optional assignment.
Houston’s outfield also seemingly took a blow today. Jake Meyers tried to check his swing during a plate appearance and grabbed at his oblique area. He left the game and the Astros announced his injury as lower back tightness. Meyers has taken the majority of playing time in center field this year. He is a strong defender and has a solid .243/.326/.378 line so far on the season.
If Meyers needs to miss some time, then the Astros will have to figure out a solution in center. Brice Matthews entered the game for Meyers today. He is one of the club’s best prospects but he entered today with just 22 games of big league experience and a .148/.212/.410 line in those. Right fielder Cam Smith has gotten some work in center but not in official game action. Left fielder Joey Loperfido does have some center field experience but less than in the corners.
Houston has Zach Cole and Shay Whitcomb on optional assignment. However, Cole recently broke his toe when he was hit by a pitch in a Triple-A game. His timeline is unclear but he’s not immediately available. Whitcomb has far more infield experience than he does on the grass. In terms of non-roster options with outfield experience, they have Taylor Trammell, Cavan Biggio and CJ Alexander.
Photo courtesy of Ron Chenoy, Imagn Images
Will The Imai Signing Spur An Astros Trade?
The Astros finalized their three-year, $54MM deal with Tatsuya Imai this afternoon. It came as a surprise that the Japanese righty ended up in Houston — not because the Astros didn’t need a starter, but due to what appeared to be a tight budget.
Imai settled for an $18MM average annual value that landed below most projections. Houston got a short-term deal at a reasonable salary by offering opt-out chances after each of the first two seasons. RosterResource projects their Opening Day payroll around $242MM. They’re at an estimated $238MM in luxury tax commitments. The Astros also need to pay a $9.975MM release fee to Imai’s NPB club, the Seibu Lions. That does not count against their luxury tax ledger, though it’s a not insignificant sum for what could amount to one year of Imai’s services if he opts out.
The Astros opened the 2025 season with a $220MM payroll. Their season-ending luxury tax number landed just shy of $246MM, subjecting them to a modest ($1.5MM) bill for exceeding the $241MM base threshold. Next season’s cutoff is $244MM. They’re already projected within $6MM of that number. A team’s luxury tax payroll is not finalized until the end of the year, meaning in-season acquisitions count on a prorated basis towards that sum. So do any unlocked incentives and contracts for players on minor league deals who are selected onto the MLB roster.
Early offseason reporting indicated that Houston owner Jim Crane was reluctant to go beyond the tax line for what would be a third straight season. Chandler Rome of The Athletic wrote this morning that remains the case even with Imai on the books.
Will that be a firm mandate? Crane was loath to pay the CBT in each of the past two offseasons as well. That changed quickly in 2024, when they responded to a season-ending injury to Kendall Graveman by signing Josh Hader — a deal that rocketed them into tax territory. Houston stayed below the CBT line entering the ’25 season. Then came an opportunity to reacquire Carlos Correa at the deadline, again pushing them above. The owner has changed his mind before.
As it stands, it’s difficult to see the Astros staying below the tax line throughout the 2026 season. They’d be very limited in what they can accomplish at the trade deadline. RosterResource’s calculation is unofficial and pending resolution on a number of arbitration cases, so there are decent-sized error bars in the $238MM estimate, but the broader point remains that they’re not far below the CBT line. Some clubs prefer to have more than $10MM in payroll room for in-season additions.
That could lead the front office to clear a few million in an offseason trade. Let’s look at how their payroll is shaping up.
Players on Guaranteed Contracts (10)
- Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Christian Walker, Josh Hader, Tatsuya Imai, Lance McCullers Jr., Cristian Javier, Ryan Weiss, Nate Pearson
Correa, Altuve and Alvarez obviously aren’t getting traded. Hader anchors the bullpen and is headed into the third season of a five-year deal; he’s not going anywhere. Imai, Weiss and Pearson signed free agent contracts this offseason. That only leaves three possibilities from this group.
Javier is headed into the fourth season of a five-year, $64MM extension. His deal comes with a $12.8MM luxury tax hit. Tommy John surgery wiped out most of his last two seasons. He made it back for eight starts at the end of last year. His whiff rate was down compared to pre-surgery levels but the raw stuff didn’t look much different. It’s fair to attribute his inconsistency to some rust off the layoff. A team with a deeper rotation might consider selling low in this situation, but that’s not a luxury the Astros can afford. They’d need to replace him in the middle of the rotation and are unlikely to find anyone better in free agency for less than $13MM annually.
McCullers is making $17MM in the final season of his five-year extension. Injuries cost him all of 2023-24. He pitched to a 6.51 ERA around three more IL stints last year. He might be looking at minor league offers if he were a free agent. No one is taking any of this contact unless the Astros attach a prospect to convince a team to pay down a small percentage. Maybe that’d work for a rebuilding club, but McCullers also locked in full no-trade rights when he crossed the 10-year service threshold last season. There’s probably not much to be done about this one.
Of the players on guaranteed deals, that only leaves Walker. He’s owed $40MM over the next two seasons and counts for $20MM against the tax ledger. His first year in Houston was a disappointment. Despite hitting 27 homers, he had a below-average .238/.297/.421 batting line over 640 plate appearances. Walker’s typically excellent defensive metrics tanked. He picked things up offensively with a near-.800 OPS in the second half, though even that narrative is clouded by a .277 on-base percentage in September.
Altogether, Baseball Reference graded Walker as a replacement level player. FanGraphs credited him with one win. He wouldn’t come close to $40MM for his age 35-36 seasons if he were a free agent. Even getting another team to cover half the contract would be a stretch. (Ryan O’Hearn, who is two years younger, just signed a two-year deal at $14.5MM annually coming off a .281/.366/.437 season that was valued between 2-3 WAR.) The Astros could probably find a taker if they paid Walker down to $7-8MM per season, yet that’d be a lot of dead money to eat a third of the way into the contract. General manager Dana Brown downplayed the chance of moving Walker at the GM Meetings in early November, calling him the team’s “everyday first baseman.”
Arbitration-Eligible Players (12)
- Enyel De Los Santos, Bryan Abreu, Steven Okert, Isaac Paredes, Jesús Sánchez, Jeremy Peña, Jake Meyers, Hunter Brown, Yainer Diaz, Nick Allen, Bennett Sousa, Hayden Wesneski
There’s no chance of a Hunter Brown trade. Dana Brown said at the Winter Meetings that teams weren’t even asking about Peña because they’re aware “there’s no way” they’d move their franchise shortstop (via Rome).
De Los Santos will make $1.6MM after avoiding arbitration. The Astros could have non-tendered him if they just wanted that small amount off the books. Okert, Allen, Sousa and Wesneski are all projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for $2MM salaries or less. Savings compared to the $780K minimum would be negligible. They’re useful role players or, in Wesneski’s case, a potentially valuable long-term piece.
Abreu ($5.9MM projection) and Diaz ($4.5MM projection) are probably too valuable to trade. The former is their best setup man, the latter their starting catcher. While there’d be significant interest in both, they’re not easily replaced by someone making the league minimum. That leaves three players: Paredes, Meyers and Sánchez.
Paredes is projected for a $9.3MM salary and has two years of remaining control. The GM said in November that the team had “no interest” in moving him. Paredes had an excellent start to his Astros tenure, hitting 20 homers with a .254/.352/.458 line over 438 plate appearances. He missed most of the second half with a significant hamstring injury. The Astros responded by acquiring Correa to play third base. Paredes could factor in at second base but is unlikely to be a strong defender there. Walker is penciled in at first for now with Alvarez and Altuve splitting left field and designated hitter.
The Astros dangled Meyers for a controllable starter early in the offseason. It would’ve been a bit of a sell-high situation on the heels of a career-best .292/.354/.373 showing at the plate. He’s less likely to move now that the Astros dealt outfield prospect Jacob Melton to Tampa Bay in the three-team trade to land starter Mike Burrows. Meyers’ $3.5MM projection isn’t onerous, and trading him would place a lot of faith in rookie Zach Cole to step up as an everyday center fielder.
That may leave Sánchez as their top candidate for a pure salary dump move. He’s projected for a $6.5MM salary, and it came as a surprise that Houston tendered him a contract at all. Sánchez was a disappointment after a deadline deal from Miami, batting .199/.269/.342 over 160 plate appearances while making a handful of defensive lapses. They could shop Sánchez and add a cheaper left-handed free agent outfielder (e.g. Mike Tauchman, Michael Conforto) to compete with Cole and Cam Smith for right field playing time.
Astros Designate Cooper Hummel For Assignment
4:50pm: McTaggart adds that the club is calling up outfielder Jacob Melton, so he will presumably take Hummel’s active roster spot.
3:30pm: The Astros have designated infielder/outfielder Cooper Hummel for assignment, per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. That opens a 40-man spot for right-hander Cristian Javier to be reinstated from the 60-day injured list, a move that was reported earlier. McTaggart was among those to relay earlier today that left-hander Colton Gordon has been optioned to Triple-A to open an active roster spot for Javier. It’s unclear if the Astros will recall another position player to replace Hummel on the active roster or play a man down tonight.
Hummel has clearly intrigued teams with his minor league numbers. However, since he is out of options and has struggled in his major league looks, he has been frequently mentioned in the transaction logs.
This year alone, he has been on MLBTR a number of times. He was with the Astros during spring training but didn’t crack the Opening Day roster and was designated for assignment. He cleared waivers and elected free agency and signed a minor league deal with the Yankees. He opted out of that deal and signed a big league deal with the Orioles in late May. He was designated for assignment again the next day, clearing waivers and electing free agency again. He re-signed with the O’s a few days later but got another DFA a few days after that. He again elected free agency and landed a minor league deal with the Astros, which was selected to the big league roster just over a week later.
Around all of those transactions, Hummel has appeared in 37 games and stepped to the plate 105 times but has mustered a line of just .170/.298/.273. For his career, he now has a .163/.268/.275 line in 340 trips to the plate.
He’ll be back on waivers in the coming days. Perhaps a club again takes a chance on his minor league track record. He has a .284/.418/.480 line and 132 wRC+ in almost 1500 Triple-A plate appearances since the canceled 2020 season. He’s capable of playing first base and the outfield corners. He also has some experience at catcher and third base but hasn’t played those spots in a few years. If he lands somewhere, he is out of options but is still cheap and controllable, as he has between one and two years of service time.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
Cristian Javier Begins Rehab Assignment
Right-hander Cristian Javier took a big step towards returning to the Astros rotation today when he began a rehab assignment, as relayed by Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle. Javier threw 1 1/3 innings in the Florida Complex League today, and manager Joe Espada told reporters (including Kawahara) that Javier “came out feeling really good” after a 35-pitch outing where he touched 95 mph with his fastball.
That Javier is back on the mound after undergoing Tommy John surgery in June of 2024 is encouraging news for an Astros club in desperate need of pitching reinforcements. Breakout ace Hunter Brown and the ever-reliable Framber Valdez have been good enough this year to paper over a number of issues, but Lance McCullers Jr. has a 6.48 ERA in ten starts this year. Relying on him to start playoff games would be a tough pill to swallow, and rookies Colton Gordon and Brandon Walter aren’t much more reliable despite Walter in particular putting together a strong effort so far.
Javier has a career 3.59 ERA in the major leagues, but the Astros would surely take even the career-worst 4.56 he posted during the 2023 season if it meant adding some much-needed depth to their rotation. Kawahara writes that the Astros are “optimistic” that the right-hander will be able to return at some point in the second half to chip in for the club’s latest playoff push, but it’s not exactly clear when or in what role Javier will be expected to participate. Typically, a pitcher’s rehab assignment can only last for a maximum of 30 days. That would normally suggest Javier should rejoin the big league club at some point in early-to-mid August, but pitchers recovering from Tommy John surgery can receive up to three ten-day extensions on their rehab time for a maximum of 60 days.
That means it wouldn’t be outlandish to see Javier continue rehabbing into mid-September, and that’s before even considering the possibility of a setback. Without a more firm timetable for the right-hander’s return, it’s hard to know how much Houston is expecting to be able to count on the righty in the second half. Fortunately for the Astros, Javier isn’t the only pitcher on the mend. Luis Garcia is still on his way back from the Tommy John surgery he underwent in May of 2023 after repeated shutdowns due to continued soreness in his elbow, but began a rehab assignment of his this past Monday. Spencer Arrighetti, meanwhile, has been sidelined since April with a thumb fracture. A rehab assignment could be in sight for him as well, but Kawahara relays (per Espada) that he’ll need “a couple” of sessions against live hitters before taking that step.
All of those impending returns from key arms should help the Astros down the stretch, but with so much uncertainty about that trio’s timeline it’s hard to imagine it being enough to convince the Astros not to search aggressively for rotation upgrades prior to the trade deadline on July 31. Last year, the club surrendered significant capital to acquire a top rental in the form of southpaw Yusei Kikuchi. Barring a surprise injury to Brown or Valdez, they may not need to be quite as aggressive this time around but should still at least be in the market for some type of rotation depth. Pirates southpaw Andrew Heaney, Nationals righty Michael Soroka, and White Sox right-hander Aaron Civale are among a number of veteran rentals who aren’t likely to be quite as expensive as some of the summer’s top names.
Astros Acquire Nick Robertson
The Blue Jays announced that they have traded right-hander Nick Robertson, who was designated for assignment last week, to the Astros. In exchange, minor league righty Edinson Batista heads to the Jays. To open a 40-man spot for Robertson, the Astros transferred Cristian Javier to the 60-day injured list, per Chandler Rome of The Athletic. Rome adds that Robertson will report to Triple-A Sugar Land.
Robertson, 26, has a fairly limited major league track record. Over the past two years, he has thrown 35 2/3 innings for the Dodgers, Red Sox, Cardinals and Blue Jays. He has a 5.30 earned run average in that sample but his 24.8% strikeout rate and 6.8% walk rate are both a bit better than average, while his 42.2% ground ball rate is right around par.
His minor league work wasn’t great last year but was quite strong before that. From 2021 to 2023, he tossed 168 1/3 innings on the farm with a 3.80 ERA, 29.1% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate. But last year, he posted a 6.87 ERA, 21.7% strikeout rate and 13.7% walk rate in 36 2/3 Triple-A innings.
His profile has been enough to garner interest from several clubs. He was flipped from Los Angeles to Boston in the July 2023 trade that sent Enrique Hernández to the Dodgers, then the Sox sent him to the Cards in the December 2023 deal that sent Tyler O’Neill to Fenway. St. Louis put him on waivers in September, with the Jays putting in a claim and holding him through the offseason. But they needed to open some 40-man spots as they set their Opening Day roster and bumped Robertson off.
Robertson still has an option season remaining, so the Astros can keep him in Sugar Land to see if he can put 2024 behind him. They had some 40-man roster spots to burn due to several injuries. Javier had Tommy John surgery in June of last year and won’t be an option until the second half of the season even in a best-case scenario.
Presumably, several clubs were interested in adding Robertson as some optionable depth, so the Astros had to part with a minor leaguer in order to jump the waiver queue. Batista, 23 in May, was an international signing out of the Dominican Republic. He hasn’t yet risen higher than the High-A level, showing some ability to get strikeouts and ground balls but also with control issues. Since the start of 2021, he has 277 1/3 innings pitched across various minor league levels with a 4.87 ERA, 23.9% strikeout rate and 11.4% walk rate. He has worked both out of the rotation and the bullpen.
In June of 2024, Eric Longenhagen and Travis Ice of FanGraphs gave Batista an honorable mention on their list of the top prospects in the Astros’ system, describing him as “an advanced, athletic, undersized depth starter type.”
Photo courtesy of Jonathan Dyer, Imagn Images
Astros Designate Cooper Hummel For Assignment
The Astros have designated catcher/infielder/outfielder Cooper Hummel for assignment and placed righty J.P. France on the 60-day injured list as he recovers from last summer’s shoulder surgery. That pair of moves opens two additional spots on a 40-man roster that already had two vacancies. The four openings will go to righty Rafael Montero, lefty Steven Okert, second baseman Brendan Rodgers and top prospect Cam Smith, all of whom have been selected to the 40-man roster and are on the Opening Day club.
Houston also placed outfielders Pedro Leon and Taylor Trammell on the 10-day injured list due to a knee strain and calf strain, respectively. Right-handers Shawn Dubin, Luis Garcia, Cristian Javier, Lance McCullers Jr., Kaleb Ort and Forrest Whitley have all been placed on the 15-day IL.
The Astros had telegraphed all these moves. They’d already announced that Montero, Okert, Smith and Rodgers were making the team. Houston had previously informed Hummel that he would not break camp. Since he’s out of options, that made a DFA or waiver placement inevitable. France, who’ll be out into at least July rehabbing last year’s shoulder procedure, was an obvious 60-day IL candidate to open the final roster spot.
Houston claimed Hummel off waivers from the Giants last spring. They outrighted him off the 40-man roster a couple weeks later but reselected his contract in June when they released José Abreu. He spent most of the season in Triple-A, exhausting his final option season in the process. Hummel went 0-8 with a pair of strikeouts in his big league work. He had a solid year in Triple-A, hitting .277/.419/.454 with a massive 17.9% walk rate through 442 plate appearances.
The Astros will have five days to trade Hummel or place him on waivers. He’s not viewed as a regular behind the plate, but he can catch on occasion while playing first base or the corner outfield. His patient plate approach has translated to a .285/.419/.480 career slash in Triple-A. He owns just a .159/.255/.275 line with a 31.9% strikeout rate over 82 major league games.
Trammell, Whitley, Ort and Dubin are all out of options themselves. Their Spring Training injuries delay the Astros’ need to make a decision on any of them, as they’ll begin the year on the major league IL. Ort has the best chance of holding a roster spot once he returns after pitching to a 2.55 ERA with a 28% strikeout rate last season.
Players Who Could Move To The 60-Day IL Once Spring Training Begins
Most of the clubs in the league currently have a full 40-man roster, which means that just about every transaction requires a corresponding move these days. Some extra roster flexibility is on the way, however. The 60-day injured list goes away five days after the World Series but comes back when pitchers and catchers report to spring training.
Per R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports, most clubs have a report date of February 12th or 13th. The Cubs and Dodgers are a bit earlier than most, on the 9th and 11th, respectively. That’s due to the fact that those clubs are heading to Tokyo, with exhibition games in mid-March, followed by regular season games against each other on March 18th and 19th. All the other teams have Opening Day scheduled for March 27th.
It’s worth pointing out that the 60 days don’t start being counted until Opening Day. Although a team can transfer a player to the 60-day IL quite soon, they will likely only do so if they aren’t expecting the player back until end of May or later. A team also must have a full 40-man roster in order to move a player to the 60-day IL.
There are still plenty of free agents still out there, including big names like Alex Bregman and Pete Alonso, as well as Nick Pivetta, Andrew Heaney, David Robertson, Randal Grichuk, Kenley Jansen, Harrison Bader, Lance Lynn, Jose Quintana and many more. Perhaps the extra roster flexibility will spur some deals to come together in the next week or so. It could also increase the ability of some clubs to make waiver claims or small trades for players who have been designated for assignment.
Here are some players who are expected to miss some significant time and could find themselves transferred soon.
Angels: Robert Stephenson
Stephenson underwent a hybrid Tommy John surgery with internal brace in late April. Given the 14-plus months required to recovery from such a procedure, he’s not likely to be ready in the early parts of the 2025 season.
Astros: Cristian Javier, J.P. France, Bennett Sousa
Javier underwent Tommy John surgery in June and is targeting a return in the second half of 2025. France is recovering from shoulder surgery and hoping to return in July. Sousa’s timeline is less clear but he underwent surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in April. Other possibilities include Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers Jr., who are expected to start the season on the IL but returning in April or May still seems possible.
Athletics: Luis Medina, Ken Waldichuk
Medina underwent Tommy John surgery in August and Waldichuk in May. Medina might miss the entire season while Waldichuk is likely to miss a few months at least.
Blue Jays: Angel Bastardo, Alek Manoah
The Jays grabbed Bastardo from the Red Sox in the Rule 5 draft in December, even though he had Tommy John surgery in June. Manoah also had Tommy John around that time and is hoping to be back by August.
Braves: Joe Jiménez
Jimenez had knee surgery in November with a timeline of eight to twelve months, so he might miss the entire season. Spencer Strider and Ronald Acuña Jr. are also possibilities, though those will be more borderline. Strider had internal brace surgery in April, so returning in May is somewhat possible. Acuña is recovering from a torn ACL last year and it’s possible he’ll miss the first month or so of the season. Given how important both of those players are, Atlanta probably won’t put them on the 60-day IL unless it’s 100% certain that they can’t come back in the first 60 days of the season.
Brewers: Robert Gasser
Gasser had Tommy John surgery in June and will be looking at a late 2025 return even in a best-case scenario.
Diamondbacks: Kyle Nelson
Nelson’s timeline is unclear, but he underwent surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in May and missed the remainder of the 2024 season.
Dodgers: Gavin Stone, Brusdar Graterol, River Ryan, Kyle Hurt, Emmet Sheehan
Stone underwent shoulder surgery in October that will cause him to miss the entire year. Graterol also underwent shoulder surgery and isn’t expected back until the second half of 2025. Each of Ryan, Hurt and Sheehan required Tommy John surgery in 2024: Ryan in August, Hurt in July and Sheehan in May.
Guardians: Sam Hentges, David Fry, Shane Bieber, Trevor Stephan
Hentges required shoulder surgery in September, with an expected recovery timeline of 12 to 14 months. Fry underwent UCL surgery in November with a more fluid timeline. He won’t be able to throw at all in 2025 but could be cleared for designated hitter action six to eight months from that surgery. Bieber is perhaps a borderline case, as he underwent Tommy John surgery in April. Given his importance, the Guards may not transfer him to the 60-day IL until it’s assured that he won’t be back in the first 60 days of the season. Stephan underwent Tommy John surgery in March and perhaps has a chance to avoid the 60-day IL, depending on his progression.
Mariners: Matt Brash, Jackson Kowar
Brash underwent Tommy John surgery in May. Given the typical 14-month recovery timeline from that procedure, he would be looking at a midsummer return. However, it was reported in November that he’s ahead of schedule and could be back by the end of April. That’s an optimistic timeline but the Mariners will probably hold off moving him to the 60-day IL until the door is closed to an early return. Kowar underwent Tommy John in March, so an early return in 2025 is possible for him, depending on how his recovery is going.
Marlins: Braxton Garrett, Eury Pérez
Garrett just underwent UCL surgery last month and is going to miss the entire 2025 season. Pérez underwent Tommy John surgery in April of last year and will miss at least part of the beginning of the 2025 campaign.
Mets: Christian Scott
Scott required a Tommy John surgery and internal brace hybrid procedure in September and will likely miss the entire 2025 season.
Nationals: Josiah Gray, Mason Thompson
Gray required a Tommy John surgery and internal brace hybrid procedure in July, meaning he’ll miss most or perhaps all of the 2025 season. Thompson required Tommy John surgery in March, so he has a better chance to make an early-season return if his recovery is going well.
Orioles: Kyle Bradish, Tyler Wells
Bradish and Wells each required UCL surgery in June, so they’re both slated to miss the first half of the upcoming campaign.
Padres: Joe Musgrove
Musgrove had Tommy John surgery in October and will therefore miss the entire 2025 season. However, the Padres only have 36 guys on their 40-man roster at the moment, so they’ll need to fill those spots before moving Musgrove to the 60-day IL.
Pirates: Dauri Moreta
Moreta required UCL surgery in March, so an early-season return is possible if his rehab is going well, though he could end up on the 60-day if the club goes easy with his ramp-up or he suffers any kind of setback.
Rangers: Josh Sborz
Sborz underwent shoulder surgery in November and is expected to miss the first two to three months of the upcoming season.
Rays: Nate Lavender, Ha-Seong Kim
The Rays took Lavender from the Mets in the Rule 5 draft, even though he had Tommy John in May and will miss the start of the season. Kim’s status is more up in the air after he had shoulder surgery in October. Various reports have suggested he could return anywhere from April to July. The Rays made a sizable investment in Kim, their largest ever for a position player, so they probably won’t shelve him until they get more clarity on his status.
Red Sox: Patrick Sandoval, Garrett Whitlock, Chris Murphy
Sandoval had internal brace surgery in June of last year and should miss the first half of the season. Whitlock had the same surgery in May, so he could have a bit of a better chance to return in the first 60 days of the season. Murphy underwent a fully Tommy John surgery in April and will certainly miss the beginning of the upcoming season. Another possibility is Lucas Giolito, who had internal brace surgery in March, though he expects to be ready by Opening Day.
Reds: Julian Aguiar, Brandon Williamson
Aguiar underwent Tommy John surgery in October and Williamson in September, so both are likely slated to miss the entire 2025 season.
Tigers: Sawyer Gipson-Long
Gipson-Long underwent internal brace surgery in April. On top of that, he underwent left hip labral repair surgery in July, with the club hoping to address both issues at the same time. It seems likely that he’ll miss some of the early 2025 schedule, but his IL placement will depend on how he’s been progressing.
White Sox: Jesse Scholtens
Scholtens underwent Tommy John surgery in early March. Whether he goes on the 60-day IL or not will depend on how he’s progressed since then and when the White Sox expect him back.
Yankees: Jonathan Loáisiga
Loáisiga underwent internal brace surgery in April, so he could potentially be back on the mound early in the 2025 season. It was reported in December that the Yankees are expecting him to be in the bullpen by late April or early May, so he’ll only end up on the 60-day IL if he suffers a bit of a setback.