The Houston Astros moved a contract and a question mark on Tuesday night, sending right-handed reliever Rafael Montero to the Atlanta Braves and kicking in $7.7 million to make the numbers work. Atlanta gives up a player to be named later—now identified as minor leaguer Patrick Halligan—and assumes just under $3 million of Montero’s remaining $11.5 million salary for 2025. For Houston, this is a clean salary play that creates breathing room near the competitive balance tax line. For Atlanta, it’s another low-cost bullpen bet with upside. That’s the shape of the Rafael Montero trade on April 8, 2025.
Astros cut costs, Braves bet on upside
Montero, 34, is in the final year of a three-year, $34.5 million deal he signed with Houston after the 2022 title run. The Astros will wire Atlanta two equal payments of $3.85 million on May 1 and July 1, effectively covering about 70% of his remaining tab. The move slices immediate payroll pressure for a club hovering around the $241 million luxury-tax threshold and staring at midseason needs.
There’s a relationship thread here, too. Astros GM Dana Brown, who announced the trade, worked under Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos in Atlanta. The two front offices speak the same language on roster churn and marginal gains, and this deal reads like a straight swap of risk for flexibility: Houston buys room to maneuver; Atlanta buys a lottery ticket for less than $3 million.
Key numbers tell the story:
- Cash from Astros: $7.7 million, paid in two installments
- Braves’ share: just under $3 million
- Astros return: player to be named later, later identified as Patrick Halligan
- Roster fallout: Houston recalled lefty Bennett Sousa; Atlanta had a 40-man opening after waiving catcher Chadwick Tromp
Why did Houston move him now? Two reasons. First, the contract. Montero’s annual hit sat heavy on a roster built to win now and likely to shop for pitching again by July. Second, performance. Over the last two seasons, Montero’s results slid from championship-level leverage arm to unreliable middle reliever. He posted a combined 4.94 ERA in 2023 and 2024 and was designated for assignment on July 31 last season after a 4.70 ERA across 41 games, eight homers allowed, and a walk rate that nearly matched his strikeouts. Nobody claimed him. He cleared waivers, went to Triple-A Sugar Land, and, to his credit, recalibrated with a 2.20 ERA in 17 outings.
Houston’s calculus: the 2024 Triple-A rebound was real enough to move the contract, but not convincing enough to bet the summer bullpen on a full bounce-back at his price. The club swapped Montero’s uncertainty for both financial flexibility and a fresh look at the last bullpen spots. Sousa, the lefty recalled to replace Montero on the active roster, gives them another option to mix and match in the middle innings.
Montero’s time in Houston wasn’t a bust—far from it. He was a vital piece of the 2022 title bullpen and saved 14 games that year, attacking late innings with conviction. Across parts of five seasons with the Astros (2021–2025), he logged a 3.81 ERA in 187 games, 185 strikeouts, and a .238 opponent average. In October, when the heat turned up, he was steady: a 2.51 ERA in 15 postseason appearances. That résumé—plus the price—made him attractive enough for Atlanta to take the swing.
The return for Houston, Patrick Halligan, is a player to be named later who was later identified after the paperwork settled. These PTBNL pieces are often developmental plays rather than instant contributors—think arm strength, a usable secondary pitch, or a defender with one standout tool—though the details tend to surface over time as minor-league assignments post.
What Montero brings—and what changes in Atlanta
Atlanta’s blueprint under Anthopoulos hasn’t changed: find arms with ingredients, pay modestly, and let the pitching infrastructure do the heavy lifting. They’ve done it with different flavors—buy-low relievers, non-tenders returning from injury, and midyear tweaks that pay off down the stretch. The idea isn’t that every flyer hits. It’s that the cost is small enough to take several swings, and the staff can nudge the right ones into form.
Where does Montero fit? Expect him to slide into middle relief at first, working lower-leverage spots while the Braves test what plays. If the command stabilizes and the home-run bug eases, he can take on the seventh or serve as a bridge on days the late-inning core needs a breather. If not, the commitment is small enough for Atlanta to pivot quickly.
What went wrong in Houston the last two years is straightforward. He allowed too many damaging contact events and gave back free passes at the wrong time. In 2024 alone, the eight home runs in 41 outings stung, and the near-even walk-to-strikeout gap shrunk his margin for error. In Triple-A, he looked more like his 2022 self—pounding the zone more often, simplifying sequences, and stealing early-count strikes.
Montero’s profile remains the same as it’s been since he shifted full-time to relief: veteran experience, late-inning exposure, and enough stuff to miss bats when he’s around the plate. The question for Atlanta’s coaches is whether they can tighten the sights—better strike one, smarter chase usage, fewer center-cut misses—and recover the ground-ball and soft-contact mix that fueled his best stretches. That’s the bet.
The Braves didn’t need a major roster surgery to make room. A 40-man opening already existed after they waived catcher Chadwick Tromp, so no immediate corresponding move was required. Montero is expected to report Wednesday and be available soon after, giving Atlanta a fresh, tested arm for the long run-up to summer.
Houston, meanwhile, gets what it wanted most: room to maneuver. Paying down most of Montero’s deal removes a notable line item from a payroll flirting with the tax band. That matters in July, when relievers, rental bats, and innings-eaters become the currency of a pennant race. Trimming a salary, even while eating a chunk of cash to do it, is often the difference between chasing a need and skirting it.
There’s also a clubhouse component that’s easy to overlook. A bullpen can’t run on fumes, and roles get unstable when innings become auditions. By making a clean decision on Montero’s contract now, the Astros can sort their pecking order earlier, with Sousa stepping into the lefty mix and others sliding into more defined jobs.
For Montero, this is a second chance in a contender’s bullpen. He’s been in all the roles—opener during his Mets days, setup man, closer, and October reliever—and that versatility is part of the appeal. The Braves can deploy him where the game asks, not where the label sits. If the walks dip and the long balls calm down, his track record says the results can normalize quickly.
His wider résumé stretches back to 2014 with the Mets. Across 11 seasons and 324 games—only 30 of them starts, none since 2017—he owns a 4.71 ERA with 30 saves. He’s seen both ends of the reliever’s life, from late-inning trust to the waiver wire, and found pockets of success after resets. That loop is familiar in baseball: command wobbles, the role shrinks, the reset clears the slate, and a few cleaner weeks turn the narrative.
Atlanta’s bullpen philosophy thrives on that cycle. They’ve had success tightening mechanics and usage for veterans and former prospects alike, and they don’t shy from giving new arrivals a clear plan. Early innings in Atlanta will be about establishing the foundation—strike one, fewer freebies, and better contact management. The rest can grow from there.
As for timing, both teams get what they need now. The Braves add depth without straining the budget, always useful during a summer that tests even the best-built bullpens. The Astros clear space below the tax line while maintaining enough relief options to cover workload. The payments are set, the roster is reset, and the calendar offers both clubs time to see if this bet pays off.