The Astros are trading right-hander Jayden Murray to the Cubs, reports Ari Alexander of 7 News Boston. Double-A first baseman Cameron Sisneros goes to Houston in return.
Murray was designated for assignment earlier this week when Hunter Brown returned from the injured list. That took Murray off the Astros’ 40-man roster. The Cubs will need to carry Murray on their own 40-man roster, though he has three option years remaining and can be sent down to Triple-A if the Cubs deem that appropriate. Considering Murray’s lackluster results in the Majors, getting optioned is a likely outcome.
Murray debuted with Houston last year at age 28 and has thrown 25 big league innings since then. He has a 4.68 ERA in that sample along with a middling 14.7% strikeout rate. Hitters have batted .341 in balls in play off Murray, which suggests he’s been a little unlucky. At the same time, Murray has given up plenty of hard contact and has a 5.02 SIERA in the Majors, so even with the bad luck, he still looks the part of a fringe, Quad-A reliever.
More to come.