Houston Astros outright five, roster down to 31 - MLB News
Houston Astros’ general manager Jeff Luhnow announced that five of their players were outrighted. These included right-handed pitchers Jorge De Leon, Chuckie Fick and Arcenio Leon. Also, outfielders Brian Bogusevic and J.B. Shuck are on that list.
Chuckie Fick has been assigned to Triple-A Oklahoma City and Leon has been claimed by Milwaukee Brewers. The remaining three, Bogusevic, De Leon and Shuck all cleared waivers and will now become free-agents.
Fick played 20 games this season for the Astros and St. Louis Cardinals. He had a combined ERA of 4.38 as a relief pitcher. The 26-year-old also made 47 Minor League appearances in 2012 with moderate success and posted a high 5.09 ERA. The pitcher was acquired
from the Cardinals in late July and was added to the roster of the Oklahoma City.
Leon was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2005 out of Venezuela. The 26-year-old played his full 2012 season with Double-A Corpus Christi with two saves and a 3-2 pitching record. He pitched over 63 innings and had a 4.38 ERA. Originally a part of Astros
Venezuelan Academy, this was his third successive season as a Double-A pitcher.
De Leon was associated with the Class-A Lancaster JetHawks for the complete season. He made 14 starts in a total of 40 appearances for the team based in Lancaster, California. His figures were far from pretty as he posted a 2-9 losing record and had a 7.70
ERA. He started out as a pitcher in 2010, prior to which the 25-year-old was an infielder.
Bogusevic was a regular feature for the Astros in 2012 season. He featured in 146 regular season games for the club, managing to post a .203 batting average in 355 at-bats. He hit seven home-runs with 28 RBI’s. Originally he was drafted as a left-handed
pitcher in 2005, the 28-year-old transformed into an outfielder in 2008.
Shuck had a good year with the bat. He played for the Triple-A Oklahoma city in 2012. He had a batting average of .298 with 33 RBI’s and 11 doubles. The 25-year-old was originally drafted by the Houston Astros in June 2008 Draft in the sixth round.
With their bottom of MLB table finish for two successive years, the changes are inevitable. The current Astros’ 40 man roster stands at 31. They have plenty of room to get new players and they may well be looking for some free agents this season. It is yet
to be seen how they go about filling the gaps in their roster.
It will be interesting to see how the final team pans out and what sort of changes are made in the overall look. A lot will depend on the decision in the next month in shaping of the team’s fortunes in the near future.
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