Astros Trade Tom Cosgrove To Nationals

The Astros traded minor league reliever Tom Cosgrove to the Nationals for cash considerations, as first reflected on the MLB.com transaction log. The left-hander was on a minor league contract with Houston and won’t occupy a 40-man roster spot with Washington unless the move was spurred by an upward mobility clause.

Cosgrove signed with Houston in January. He has spent the season at Triple-A Sugar Land, working to a 4.30 ERA over 29 1/3 innings. Cosgrove has a slightly below average 21.3% strikeout rate and has walked an untenable 15.4% of opponents. He has also plunked nine batters, so he has more total free passes (30) than strikeouts (29).

The command has been an issue for Cosgrove throughout his career. He gets a lot of weak contact and throws from a lower arm angle that it is difficult for left-handed batters, but he hasn’t thrown enough strikes to carve out a permanent MLB role as a matchup arm. Cosgrove made 54 appearances for the Padres as a rookie in 2023. He combined for 20 big league games over the next two seasons and hasn’t reached the MLB level this year.

There was no real path for Cosgrove to get a big league look from Houston. They’re already carrying three above-average lefty relievers in Josh Hader, Steven Okert and Bryan King. They could get another, Bennett Sousa, back from an elbow injury in the second half.

The Nationals aren’t positioned nearly as well in that regard. They lost lefty relievers Mitchell Parker and Richard Lovelady to the injured list this week. Lovelady has a seemingly minor triceps strain, but Parker is expected to undergo season-ending surgery. Lefty relief wasn’t a strength even before those injuries, which now leave them with a combination of PJ Poulin and Carson Palmquist in the big league bullpen. The front office has taken a couple dart throws on depth options. In addition to the Cosgrove trade, they brought back Konnor Pilkington on a minor league deal last night.

Washington took tonight’s series opener over the Pirates to improve to 46-43 on the season. They’re still in fourth place in the NL East but within two games of a Wild Card spot. That sets up an interesting deadline for a front office that probably expected another rebuilding year. The bullpen should be the focus if they add, even if only on the margins of the roster so as not to subtract too heavily from the farm system.