As Ken Rosenthal first reported, the Tigers have acquired Houston’s Jose Veras. In return the Astros are reported to get minor leaguer Danry Vasquez a 19-year old outfielder who is currently at Low-A West Michigan and a player to be named later.

Detroit Tigers’ bullpen

Jose Veras moves into a setup role for the Tigers with Joaquin Benoit remaining as closer.  Veras loses all value except in holds leagues. Veras is the clear handcuff to Benoit. This columnist favorite washed up closer, Jose Valverde, likely ends up at AAA for the rest of the season.

Houston Astros’ bullpen

Now, the Astros’ bullpen is thrown into flux. It’s never been quite clear which way the Astros would go if they dealt Veras. None of the options to replace Veras is all that attractive.

Wesley Wright is seen by many as the next man up in the bullpen. The problem with Wright is right. That is, right handed hitting. Over his career, Wright has given up an .860 OPS to righties while limiting lefties to a .659 OPS. That’s not optimal. Wright is controlled via arbitration by the Astros until 2016 so they may want to see if he can take the role on. However, I think he may end up being more of a situational closer.

Jose Cisnero is just 24 years old and doesn’t hit arbitration until 2016 so the Astros have him under team control through 2019. His career minor league numbers show a 4.6 BB/9 rate paired with a 9.6 K/9 rate. Like many young pitchers, he can get the strikeout, but hasn’t yet learned to control his walks. I think the Astros go to Cisnero at some point this season. He’s struggled lately (since July 1 – 9.45 ERA over 6 2/3 IP with seven strikeouts and seven walks) so they will probably go with Wright first and then potentially give Cisnero a shot later in the year if he can right the ship.

I liked Josh Fields earlier this season, but he’s struggled mightily all year and isn’t a consideration in the pen at this point.

The Astros have a big strikeout guys at AAA in Josh Zeid. The problem is he walks the entire ballpark every outing he has. He’s been effective at AAA, but probably would get eaten alive at the big league level.

The prospect – Houston Astros

Danry Vasquez was a non-drafted free agent signed out of Venezuela in 2010. Baseball Prospectus rated him number four in a thin Tigers’ minor league system.  Baseball America had him at number six in the Tigers’ rankings. From reading between the lines on what I can find on Vasquez he looks like a toolsy all hit, no defense player at this point. He’s a long way from contributing, but these are the kinds of athletes that the Astros need to get into their organization as they continue to rebuild.