9:30am: The Astros have transferred Smith to the 60-day IL, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle tweets. Smith’s still working back from the surgery he underwent on a ruptured left Achilles last December. He won’t return until sometime after the All-Star break.
8:28am: The Astros will select right-hander Cy Sneed’s contract from Triple-A Round Rock, according to Jake Kaplan of The Athletic. Sneed will replace the optioned Framber Valdez on Houston’s 25-man roster, but the team will need to create a 40-man spot for him. Kaplan suggests the Astros will shift injured reliever Joe Smith to the 60-day IL to make room for Sneed’s promotion.
Sneed entered the pros as a third-round pick of the Brewers back in 2014, but they traded him to the Astros the next year for infielder Jonathan Villar. He reached Triple-A ball for the first time in 2017 and has pitched exclusively at that level since then. Across 70 1/3 innings and 14 appearances (eight starts) this season, the 26-year-old Sneed has logged a 4.48 ERA/5.34 FIP with 7.55 K/9, 2.82 BB/9 and a 40.2 percent groundball rate.
Kayrall
Now that’s a baseball name.
GB85
Apparently, he’s sorely Sneeded in the pen
bigcheesegrilledontoast
All aboard the humour train. You were left at the station. Zing!
its_happening
Your response was a Cy of relief.
throwinched10
Cyn me up for this!
jorge78
badda bing!
dudesintheoutfield07
what a Cynde comment
jorge78
Ouch!
astros_fan_84
The backend of the Astros bullpen and rotation is a rotating door of disappointment.
its_happening
You want Nick Kingham?
nymetsking
The backend of the bullpen? Osuna, Pressly & Harris seem to be doing fine.
jjd002
There is probably two all stars at the back end of that bullpen….
scarfish
He seems too young for the role
Cave
Would you rather:
A) Pitch in the MLB
B) Make it to the AAA All-Star Game and then pitch in the MLB
They think highly of Sneed, but still; option him down before the All Star break. He’s made both teams
poolerh
Guaranteed any player in AAA would rather play in the bigs than in a meaningless exhibition game in AAA.
jonnyzuck
For one, the extra few days of MLB service time and salary vs AAA salary are probably meaningful to the guy. Also, the team has a need now and if they give someone else a chance instead of Sneed, the guy might run with the opportunity and Sneed might not even get his call up
jjd002
What do you get paid if you are on the 40 man roster, even in AAA? Isn’t it better than the rest of the players there?
poolerh
Per sportslawblogger.com: As of 2015, a player in his first year on the 40 man roster earned $41,400 per year while he is in AAA. It increases about 1.5% to 2% per year. They also receive $25 per diem for food money while on the road. In their second year on the 40-man they earned about double that. The average AAA player not on the 40-man roster earned about $2500 per month during the season, not getting paid for spring training. They are also charged various fees and taxes to go with that, including clubhouse fees, Players that were high draft picks earned signing bonuses up front, so if they are wise with their money they can afford their cost of living better than free agents and lower round picks.
scarfish
Sneed has hired the Boras corporation
Monkey’s Uncle
Cy Sneed to me sounds like a guy who needs a handlebar mustache to furtively twirls the ends of right after tying a woman to some train tracks in a silent movie.
poolerh
Whatever trade Luhnow has waiting on the back burner needs to be completed soon. While a trade for major leaguer is never a 100% sure thing, a pennant race is not the time to try out minor league talent. Sneed will not be the answer, either. At least they held a shorter leash on Valdez than they had on Corbin Martin. Sneed should be a place holder until a trade can be finalized.
lsujedi
The significant roles in the pen are in the ultra-capable hands of Harris, Osuna, and Pressley. This guy is fodder for cleaning up the mess left by the next disappointing #5 starter.
JC507JC
Shorter leash in Framber? Uhhh, he’s pitched 45 innings to Martin’s 18. And Framber has been on the roster since last year, and will be back up as soon as a fifth starter is needed again after the days off.
Please let us know more of what you don’t know.
lsujedi
Reply fail 🙁
BaseballBrian
Cy Sneed sounds like a golfer in the 1930’s or a Texas cattle rancher.
thomasg2018
Love the Astros caption Sneed Adds need relief. He got rocked and now a member of the “Homer Winer Squad”. Quit wining about the ball and throwing flat fastballs and Pitch.
The terrible drafts have produced 0 pitching. Now they will have to trade for a starter and reliever.