The Astros acquired Daulton Varsho, who helped the Blue Jays reach Game 7 of the World Series last season and brings a needed left-handed bat to the Houston lineup.
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
The Houston Astros acquired center fielder Daulton Varsho from the Blue Jays in a trade for right-hander Spencer Arrighetti on Monday, addressing their pursuit of outfield help ahead of the trade deadline.
Houston also received cash considerations in the deal, which was finalized less than an hour before the 5 p.m. CT deadline — and just before the Astros hosted Toronto in the opener of a series at Daikin Park.
It was the only trade completed by the Astros, who pursued pitching help but made no additions on that front, despite a starting rotation that entered Monday with the third-highest ERA in the majors.
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“Ultimately, I felt like we got a good piece today that’s going to add to our playoff odds and we didn’t give away the future, we didn’t mortgage too much,” Astros general manager Dana Brown said. “We did take away from our (pitching) depth and we took away from some control, but we didn’t give it all up.”
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Varsho is making $10.75 million this season in his last year of arbitration and will become eligible for free agency this offseason, making him a rental for an Astros team trying to reach the postseason. While the amount of cash Toronto included in the deal was not immediately clear, it will help pay down the rest of Varsho’s salary this year. The Astros began Monday about $11 million under the first competitive balance tax threshold, per Cot’s Contracts.
Arrighetti, 26, won’t be a free agent for at least three years and spent parts of the past three seasons in Houston’s rotation, producing up-and-down results. Arrighetti, drafted by the Astros in the sixth round in 2021, made 28 starts as a rookie in 2024 and posted a 4.53 ERA. After missing most of last season to injuries, he had a 4.60 ERA in 17 major-league starts this season. He is currently on the injured list due to right foot nerve irritation.
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At about 3:20 p.m. Monday, Arrighetti was in the bullpen at Daikin Park when manager Joe Espada met him and walked with the right-hander off the field and into the clubhouse. Shortly after, Varsho walked from the visitors’ clubhouse to the home side to join his new team. Varsho was in the Astros’ starting lineup against his former club Monday night, playing center field and batting fourth. Espada said Varsho will be the Astros’ everyday center fielder and hit “in the middle” of the lineup.
“He fits a hole we’ve had here for a while,” Espada said pregame. “He brings a different dynamic to our offense, can really play center field, lefty bat. This guy was in the World Series (last year), so he knows what it takes, he knows what it feels like.”
Brown made no secret of his desire to add an outfield bat before the trade deadline. Astros outfielders had combined for the fourth-lowest OPS in the majors this year entering Monday. The club had started seven different center fielders and nine different left fielders.
Varsho, 30, is better known for his defense, which earned a Gold Glove in 2024 and strong metrics the past few seasons, albeit less favorable ones this year. As an offensive addition, his numbers are modest.
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Varsho arrives with a career 97 OPS-plus; a 100-plus is MLB average. He posted a 120 OPS-plus with 20 home runs in 71 games last season with Toronto. Entering Monday, he had a .243/.307/.375 slash line, seven home runs and an 86 OPS in 99 games this season.
“It’s a difficult thing when you have to rely on other people to make deals, and it’s all part of it,” Brown said. “But overall, we feel like we added some wins to this team by getting a quality everyday center fielder in Varsho and we think he’s a plus defender with some upside to his bat.”
The Astros opened the season with Jake Meyers as their primary center fielder but optioned Meyers to Triple-A last month. Brice Matthews and Taylor Trammell have made their second and third-most starts in center, respectively. Houston had extracted just a .626 OPS from the position through Sunday.
Plugging Varsho into center field could allow the Astros to play Trammell, who has a 105 OPS-plus, more often in left. That was their alignment Monday, with Cam Smith in right field.
Espada said he believes Varsho’s “power will play really well in this ballpark. He can run, can steal some bases. He’s a plus defender in center.” No team in baseball has taken fewer plate appearances by left-handed hitters against righties than Houston this season, a lack of balance Varsho should help address.
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“Definitely a whirlwind,” Varsho said of the afternoon. “I was hitting in the cage when I got called to go to (manager John Schneider’s) office, so obviously just a little different. But guys were welcoming.”
Arrighetti, who began this season at Triple-A, helped stabilize an Astros rotation wracked by injuries and poor performance after being called up in mid-April. He was named the American League pitcher of the month in May, but he struggled over his next nine starts and was removed from a July 24 outing against the White Sox after one inning due to the foot issue.
Houston’s current rotation appears somewhat tenuous. Along with Hunter Brown and Peter Lambert, it includes two pitchers — Ronel Blanco and Hayden Wesneski — who recently returned from Tommy John surgery. Tatsuya Imai, the club’s marquee offseason signing, was moved to the bullpen amid his season-long struggles and replaced by Cristian Javier, who had been pitching in relief after a shoulder injury.
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Arrighetti was a rotation candidate when healthy. Brown deemed Arrighetti a “great talent” and said the Astros will “miss him” but expressed confidence in the team’s current rotation options.
“You’re going to pay the cost of the (years of) control and that’s the tough part to eat,” Brown said. “But we feel like Daulton Varsho is going to bring some energy to the ball team, he’s going to add something. He’s hitting fourth in the lineup today, so that tells you how much we value him. … We feel it also adds some additional playoff odds.”