It seems as though every day the Houston Astros are trading another piece off their Major League roster. The Majors worst team is at it once again this time trading Wandy Rodriguez to their division rival Pittsburgh Pirates.
Rodriguez was signed to a 3-year deal before the 2011 season and has a player option for the 2014 season. As a part of the deal the Pirates could recoup as much as $17.7 million from the Astros. Houston will pay half of the $3.4 million Rodriguez is owed this season and $8.5 of the $13 million he's owed in 2013. Should Rodriguez exercise his $14 million player option in 2014, something that seems highly likely at this point, the Astros would pay $7.5 million of it.
It seems like an awful lot of money to hand to the Pirates over a pitcher they could have likely dealt to another team without having to throw in so much money.
It's a very similar move to the one the Pirates made in March to acquire A.J. Burnett from the Yankees. At the time Burnett has two years remaining on his deal and was owed $33 million. The Yankees agreed to ship Burnett to the Pirates along with $20 million to help pay for his New York exit.
It seems teams are really interested in paying the Pirates to take players off their hands. The Pirates couldn't be happier. They're getting talented players at well below market value. It's helping them push the Reds in the NL Central and a host of other teams in the Wild Card as the Pirates look to make the playoffs for the first time since 1992.
In return the Astros will receive minor league pitchers Rudy Owen and Colton Cain, as well as outfielder Robbie Grossman.
It's likely the Astros were willing to send so much cash to the Pirates because of these prospects. All three rank among the Top 20 Prospects in the Pirates system, however none of them rank among the Top 100 Prospects in Baseball.
It's a good move for the Pirates simply because they did not have to part with Top Prospects Jameson Taillon or Geritt Cole. Trade rumors suggested that the Pirates would need to part with one of them in order to acquire pitching at this years deadline.
Wandy Rodriguez doesn't possess the best arm of the available pitchers however acquiring him didn't force the Pirates to mortgage their future as well. A solid move all around for both the Pirates and Astros.
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