Atlanta Braves, Houston Astros Complete Trade with Minor Leaguer as Player to Be Named

Halligan, 25, was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 13th round of the 2021 MLB Draft out of Pensacola State College in Florida. He has yet to make his major league debut.

Halligan was released by the Royals on April 23, 2023, and picked by the Braves days later.

Halligan has spent five seasons in the minor leagues and has an 11-15 record with a 4.39 ERA and six saves in 107 games (16) starts. He has 218 strikeouts in 209 innings with a 2.79 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Before the trade, he was on the roster of Double-A Columbus and had given up two runs on one hit in one inning in the early days of the season. He has been assigned to the Astros’ Double-A affiliate, the Corpus Christi Hooks, where the Astros can try to develop him into a major league reliever.

Montero won the World Series with the Astros in 2022.

He made his debut in the majors in 2014 with the New York Mets and spent four seasons there. After missing all of 2019 with an injury, Montero played with the Texas Rangers (2019-20) and Seattle Mariners (2021) before being traded to Houston at the 2021 trade deadline.

So far with the Braves, Montero has pitched one scoreless inning.

In his career, Montero is 22-28 with a 4.70 ERA and 47 saves in 325 games (30 starts).