SF Giants acquire catching prospect and international slot money in deal with Astros

On Thursday night, the SF Giants completed a trade with the Houston Astros. They acquired catching prospect Jancel Villarroel and international slot money in exchange for Kai-Wei Teng, per a team announcement.

SF Giants acquire catching prospect and international slot money in deal with Astros

The move accomplished two goals for the Giants. The first goal is it cleared a roster spot for Harrison Bader. The Giants agreed to a two-year deal with the veteran outfielder earlier in the week.

The 40-man roster was full at the time of the signing, so the Giants needed to make a corresponding roster move to create a vacancy. 

The second goal is that the Giants added international slot money in a trade for the second time this month. Teams can acquire bonus pool money in increments of $250,000. The Giants have now added at least $500,000 in slot money through trades.

When the 2026 international free agency period opened up, they signed three prospects. This was led by middle infield prospect Luis Hernández out of Venezuela. He was viewed as the top prospect in this year’s cycle, and earned a $5 million signing bonus. 

These three signings have pushed them up against their allotted $5.4 million bonus pool. Teams cannot exceed their bonus pool, but they can supplement that amount through trades. 

The Giants have been connected to a few more prospects, many of whom are expected to receive a notable signing bonus. They have swung these trades to acquire enough slot money to finalize these signings.

In the process, the Giants also acquired a multi-positional catcher in Jancel Villarroel. He was signed by the Astros out of Venezuela for $10,000 in 2022.

At the time of the trade, Villarroel was ranked as Houston’s No. 13 prospect according to MLB Pipeline. He now slides in at No. 27 in the Giants’ system.

The right-handed bat posted a .739 OPS with eight home runs and 54 RBI in 433 plate appearances. He is an aggressive hitter with a pull-heavy swing and a knack for barreling up pitches in and out of the zone.

To compete the deal, the Giants shipped Kai-Wei Teng to the Astros. He pitched to a 6.37 ERA with 39 strikeouts and 17 walks in 29.2 frames last season.