The Houston Astros have released 33-year old lefty swinging shortstop Ramon Vazquez. Vazquez played in 16 games in AAA-ball for the Houston Astros and he was 19 of 54 (.352 avg, .900 OPS) with 6 runs scored and 7 RBIs. I think they should have held onto Vazquez a little longer as the Astros might be making some trades to open up a roster spot for him. I guess the Astros have faith that they will be able to either trade for a SS or that Angel Sanchez is the real deal.

The Astros have designated 25-year old lefty starting pitcher Polin Trinidad and 30-year old righty reliever Gary Majewski for assignment. Polin Trinidad came into this season as the Astros’ #26 prospect according to Baseball America. Trinidad has pitched in 19 games (16 starts) in AAA-ball this year and he is 3-6 with a 4.55 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP. He has now pitched in 129 games (117 starts) in his six years in the minors and he is 39-38 with 3 saves, a 3.70 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. The Astros would like to keep him if possible. Gary Majewski only pitched in 1 game for the Astros this year working 2 innings in which he allowed 5 hits and 5 earned runs. They won’t miss him one bit. Trinidad and Majewski lost their spots on the 40-man roster to make room for Anderson Hernandez and Nelson Figueroa.

The Houston Astros have claimed 36-year old righty starter/reliever Nelson Figueroa and 27-year old switch hitting shortstop Anderson Hernandez off waivers. Figueroa pitched in 13 games (1 start) for the Phillies this year and he was 2-1 with 1 save, a 3.46 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. He has now pitched in 119 games (50 starts) in his 8 years in the majors and he is 15-29 with 1 save, a 4.47 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. It’s quite possible that the Astros will put Figueroa right into the rotation in Brian Moehler’s spot. Anderson Hernandez played in 22 games for the Indians this year and he was 15 of 61 (.246 avg, .565 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 2 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has now played in 208 games in his major league career and he is 146 of 595 (.245 avg, .621 OPS) with 62 runs scored, 4 homers, 59 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. Look for Hernandez to get a lot of P.T. as he can also handle 2B and 3B defensively. It’s not out of the question that the Astros would consider starting Hernandez at SS. I like these two pickups for the Astros.

Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman are the players worth the most on the open market for the Astros but they shouldn’t sell either of them for pennies on a dollar. That’s why I wouldn’t be surprised if they were both still on the Astros come August 1st. I would flip Brett Myers to the Twins for 3B Danny Valencia, SS Trevor Plouffe and 2B Alexi Casilla. I would then flip Jeff Keppinger to the Mets for righty reliever Tobi Stoner. If the Astros made those two deals they would start all three of the guys they get from the Twins and Stoner would likely be the new 7th inning man for the Astros. They don’t need to have a firesale….the Astros just need to make quality trades.

The Astros could use help in middle relief so maybe they should make a call to 29-year old righty reliever Jonah Bayliss who is pitching decent in AAA for them. Bayliss has pitched in 27 games (0 starts) this season in AAA-ball and he is 1-3 with a 3.27 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. He has whiffed 41 batters in 41 1/3 innings in the minors so his stuff must be pretty decent. At this point in the season it wouldn’t hurt to give Bayliss a chance to show what he can do.