The Astros traded right-hander Rafael Montero and $7.7M to the Braves earlier this week for a player to be named later or cash. The Astros announced that the PTBNL in that deal is minor league righty Patrick Halligan.
Halligan, 25, was selected by the Royals in the 13th round of the draft back in 2021. He made the occasional start but mostly worked in relief. Over 2021 and 2022, he tossed 85 2/3 innings in the minors with a 5.36 earned run average and was released prior to the 2023 season.
Atlanta signed him to a minor league deal and the change of scenery seemed to helped him. He has since logged 123 1/3 innings with a 3.72 ERA. His 10.6% walk rate is a bit high but he has also struck out 27.6% of batters faced. Last year, he logged 50 2/3 innings, mostly at Double-A but also with some Triple-A work. For the whole year, he had a 3.02 ERA, 31.6% strikeout rate and 11.8% walk rate. Last month, Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs listed the top prospects in Atlanta’s system and gave Halligan an honorable mention, highlighting his splitter as his key to success.
With the Montero deal, the Astros were probably happy just to shed a few million bucks. His contract had quickly gone underwater, and they had been trying to trade him for quite a while. On top of saving roughly $3M, they will take a flier on Halligan and see if he can work his way into their big league bullpen.
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