Needing a 40-man roster spot in order to make official their signing of free agent outfielder Harrison Bader, the San Francisco Giants on Thursday traded right-hander Kai-Wei Teng to the Houston Astros for minor league utility player Jancel Villarroel, a 21-year-old Venezuelan who can catch and play in the outfield.
Advertisement
Teng, 27, pitched in 12 games for San Francisco over the past two seasons, including seven starts, and put up a 7.30 ERA with 46 strikeouts in 40⅔ innings. A member of Chinese Taipei’s World Baseball Classic team, Teng was in the mix for a possible long-man role in the Giants’ bullpen along with providing starter depth at Triple-A Sacramento.
Per MLB Pipeline, Villarroel was the No. 13 prospect for Houston, which also sent international slot money to the Giants.
Bader’s two-year, $20.5 million deal could be announced as soon as Friday. The outfielder had a physical in San Francisco earlier in the week.
This article originally published at Giants open roster spot for Harrison Bader by trading pitcher Kai-Wei Teng to Astros.