Checking in on the Ex's

Just a quick look at some of the folks we've parted ways with in 2013:

Xavier Cedeno (LHP) - Cedeno was claimed off of waivers by the Washington Nationals in late April after a rough start to 2013 for the Astros (11.37 ERA in 5 games). Cedeno has been pitching for Syracuse, Washington's AAA affiliate, since they claimed him and he's posted a 3.09 ERA over 12 appearances while holding hitters to a .205 average. He is 1-0 with 1 save.

Rick Ankiel (CF) - Ankiel hit just .194 with 5 homers in 25 games with the Astros before eventually getting released. The Mets signed him shortly thereafter and he's made 14 starts in centerfield for them, hitting .226 with a pair of homers and 7 runs batted in. On the year he's hitting .209 with 53 strikeouts in 115 at-bats and only 7 walks.

Chris Wallace (C) - Wallace was the odd man out in Houston's minor league catching rotation before getting traded to Cleveland for minor league left-handed reliever Eric Berger. In 22 games between AA and AAA for the Indians, Wallace is hitting .319 with a homer and 14 runs batted in. Wallace hit .271 with 20 homers and 78 RBIs between Lexington and Corpus Christi back in 2011, but followed that up with just 5 homers in 236 at bats last year. Berger has bounced between AA and AAA since 2010, but has pitched decently for the RedHawks with a 4.43 ERA in 15 appearances.

Jake Goebbert (RF) - After two solid years with AA Corpus Christi, the 25 year old Goebbert was shipped to Oakland in exchange for Travis Blackley in early April. Goebbert has appeared in 50 games for AA Midland this year and has 9 homers and 33 runs batted in while hitting .291. Meanwhile, Blackley, a converted starter, has excelled in the Astros bullpen where he's posted a 3.60 ERA in 20 appearances and is second on the team with 8 holds.

Tyler Greene (SS) - Greene signed with the White Sox after getting released by the Astros during Spring Training where he hit .167 (7/42). He started the year with AAA Charlotte and was called up when another former Astro, Angel Sanchez, was placed on the DL. In 21 games with the White Sox, Greene is hitting .235 with a homer and three rbis. He's struck out 18 times in 51 at bats.

Nate Freiman (1B) - The A's claimed the 6'8" Freiman off of waivers this spring and the Rule 5 Draft Pick has hit .266 for them in 27 games. He only has 2 home runs, but of course they've both come against the Astros. Freiman has driven in 14 runs on the year and is hitting .340 against left-handed pitching.

Mike Kvasnicka (RF) - The Astros drafted Kvasnicka in the first round in 2010, but traded him to Minnesota this spring for pitching prospect Gonzalo Sanudo. Kvasnicka hit a career high 15 home runs for Lexington last year, but only hit .232 in 88 games. He's spent all of 2013 on the disabled list. Sanudo appeared in 15 games in rookie ball in 2012 and posted an ERA of 2.00. In 36 innings he fanned 33 and walked just 2. He's yet to appear in a game for the Astros organization.

Sam Demel (RHP) - It didn't come as much of a surprise that Demel was waived after posting a 42.49 ERA (not a typo) in 5 spring appearances for the Astros, but the Yankees still claimed him off of waivers. In 18 games for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, Demel has an ERA of 1.30 and he's allowed just 19 hits in 27 2/3 innings while fanning 34 and holding opponents to a .184 batting average.

Down on the Farm 4/18/13

AAA - Oklahoma City 5 Round Rock 3 (Game 1)

Travis Blackley made his first rehab appearance for the Astros retiring the first six hitters he faced before hitting the leadoff man in the third and coming out of the game. Shortstop Jonathan Villar set the tone for the offense as he continued to break out of his season long slump notching almost as many hits in this game (3) as he had in the previous 12 (5). After starting the season 2 for 34, Villar is 6 for his last 12. Che-Hsuan Lin added a pair of rbis and Marc Krauss had a pair of hits and his 14th rbi of the season. Jose Valdez got the final out for his third save of the season

AAA - Round Rock 8 Oklahoma City 4 (Game 2)

Newcome Eric Berger surrendered 4 runs in an inning and a third in his second appearance as part of the Astros organization turning this one into a blowout as the RedHawks (7-7) fell to the Express 8-4. Jake Elmore was 0 for 3 and saw his hitting streak end at 12, but teammate Trevor Crowe hit safely in his 12th straight game. The veteran outfielder is now hitting .327 on the season. Marc Krauss drove in 2 more runs (16) and Jimmy Paredes reached base safely 4 times to lead the offense.

AA - Frisco 4 Corpus Christi 2 (17 innings)

The Hooks (7-6) lost a heartbreaker last night falling in 17 innings to the RoughRiders 4-2. Brett Nicholas led off the 9th with a solo home run off of Hooks closer Jason Stoffel to tie the game at 2 and from there it was a battle of the bullpens. Jorge De Leon led the Hooks pen with 4 scoreless innings of relief, but it wasn't enough as the RoughRiders got to Pat Urckfitz for two runs in the 17th. The Hooks went just 7 for 57 in the game. Rene Garcia was the only Corpus Christi player to get 2 hits and Enrique Hernandez homered for the second time this year.

Advanced A - Bakersfield 4 Lancaster 2

The Blaze scored 4 times in the second inning and the JetHawks (9-5) never recovered. Nolan Fontana, Andrew Aplin, and MP Cokinos all had 2 hits for Lancaster, but it wasn't enough to overcome the early deficit. Brady Rodgers worked 4 scoreless innings of relief while starter Chris Devenski allowed 10 hits and 4 runs in 5 innings of work and took the loss.

Low A - Quad Cities 9 Kane County 8 (11 innings)

Quad Cities (9-3) blew a 5-0 lead, then rallied from an 8-5 deficit to beat the Kane City Cougars 9-8 in 11 innings. Terrell Joyce doubled home Jordan Scott in the top of the 11th, and John Neely slammed the door with a perfect bottom half to earn his second save. Mike Hauschild worked 4 scoreless innings in relief to earn his first win of the season for the River Bandits while Ariel Ovando hit his first home run of the season and drove in three to lead the offense.

Trade Breakdown: Who is Eric Berger?

Houston made yet another trade today sending minor league catcher Chris Wallace to Cleveland for left-hander Eric Berger. I don't know if this move to add more pitching was prompted by the injuries to Alex White and John Ely, but it's certainly possible. Anyhow, here's what you need to know about Berger:

A former 8th round pick, Berger has been used as both a starter and a reliever in his 6 year minor league career and has bounced between AA and AAA in each of the past three seasons. Equipped with a terrific mustache and a low 90s fastball, he's probably best suited to be a lefty specialist, and he posted some really strong numbers as a reliever in AA back in 2011 (2.53 ERA in 57 innings with 67 strikeouts). He hasn't yet found success at the AAA level which is probably why most people haven't heard of him. Ultimately, he looks like a guy who will give us some depth, but not much else.

So what'd we have to give up to get this pitching depth? Catching prospect Chris Wallace. For the first time in a while, the Astros organization seems to have some depth at catcher, so Wallace became expendable. Limited to just 3 at bats in AAA this season, Wallace hadn't actually caught a game this year stuck behind the likes of Cody Clark and Jason Jaramillo. Add Max Stassi and Carlos Perez into the mix and Wallace ends up being the odd man out. He has some decent pop as evidenced by his 20 homers back in 2011, but those numbers dropped off quite a bit in 2012 as he managed only 5 and his slugging percentage dropped over 100 points. He strikes out a lot and isn't anything special defensively.

Overall, it looks like we didn't give up much, and we didn't get much in return. Despite that, I like the move because Wallace was stagnating on the bench in AAA, and you can never have too much pitching. Even if Berger only turns out to be a situational lefty it's a good move. Considering our bullpen woes early on this season, we really shouldn't look past giving anyone a shot. Anyhow, best of luck to Wallace in Cleveland and welcome aboard Mr. Berger.