Will be interesting to see how much we ate. I honestly don’t care if we ate as much as half or slightly more, getting any portion of that contract off the books frees up space for a move down the line. Can’t believe Brown found a taker.
I’m glad his last outing here was a good one.
Mark Bowman (Braves writer) tweeted that the Astros are sending enough cash to cover “a majority of Montero’s $11.5m salary.”
https://x.com/mlbbowman/status/1909771330938904796?s=46&t=X3AG1fkSceS-5Ge7ZBEz-A
When’s the last time the Astros had four LHP in the pen?
1st guess, never. But not having done any research this evening, I will be awaiting the True Up.
I have been a fan of Montero’s arm. I am sorry it did not work out for him here.
Reported this morning that Houston is sending about $7.5M to Atlanta in the deal. That is a lot, but it still frees up what, about an additional $3M in room before the first tax line?
Me as well. I had an affinity for him for some reason. Hope he does well.
I had an affinity for him too, but I know the reason. It was his 73 strikeouts in 68 innings in 2022, and his being a key part to that shutdown bullpen that won them the World Series. His 10-pitch scoreless 8th inning in the Game 4 no-hitter. The last couple of seasons have been rough on him, but I am thankful the Astros acquired him when they did.
I liked his arm from the beginning, and I hoped 2022 turned him around.
Yep, just under $3M in savings per the report linked on MLBTR. Glad for him that he stuck with the organization after the DFA and that they were able to find a fit. All the best to him in Atlanta.
The savings provides a little flexibility if they want to make a move at the deadline, or it could just be what they need to stay safely under the cap. It’s more than I think anyone expected they’d be able to get.
The PTBNL for Montero is RHP Patrick Halligan. Drafted in 2021 by KC but released after two years, Atlanta picked him up as a free agent, and he’s been bouncing around their org since then. FG wrote him up last summer:
A 2021 Royals JUCO pick, Halligan only lasted a couple of years in KC’s system before he was release mid-2022. The Braves signed him and for a while attempted to stretch Halligan out as a starter before simplifying things late in 2023 and early in 2024. Working an inning or two at a time, Halligan’s deceptive delivery and nasty splitter have allowed him to dominate Double-A. His combination of size and extreme over-the-top release create funky plane on Halligan’s heater and make his splitter seemingly impossible to pick up out of his hand as it plummets into the dirt. He’ll bend in a mid-80s cutter and low-80s curveball just to show hitters something else, but if Halligan is going to be an unlikely big league success story, it’ll be because of his split.
According to Rome bullpen help is coming:
Forrest Whitley will throw 1+ inning on Wednesday for Triple-A Sugar Land and, after that, could be ready to join the major-league team. Kaleb Ort will go back-to-back on Tuesday and Wednesday. Shawn Dubin threw a live BP today and will join Triple-A this weekend.
Whitley officially activated. Nick Hernandez optioned.
They should have an ambulance to drive him in from Sugar Land, just in case.
Whitley back to the IL, left knee sprain. Kaleb Ort activated.
Mr. Glass
How the hell did he do that?
Not a move yet but McCullers pitched 5 shut out innings for CC last night. Gave up just 3 hits and 1 BB while striking out 7. 71 pitches - 45 for strikes.
Sounds like he is ready to be activated.
Jogging in the OF?