The Milwaukee Brewers sent minor league pitcher Cy Sneed to the Houston Astros in exchange for infielder Jonathan Villar. It’s the second trade in as many days for General Manager David Stearns, after he sent closer Francisco Rodriguez to the Detroit Tigers yesterday.
The 24-year-old Villar has had Major League stints with the Astros over each of the last three seasons. He started 163 games for the Astros, 153 of them at shortstop. Villar posted his highest career battling average in 2015 as he hit .284 in 53 games. Villar made his Major League debut on July 22, 2013 with the Astros and was the team’s Opening Day starting shortstop in 2014.
The 23-year old Sneed was selected by Milwaukee in the third round of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft. He went 6-13 with a 3.30 ERA in 37 games (30 starts) over two seasons in the Brewers organization. Sneed split the 2015 season at Class-A Wisconsin and Class-A Brevard County, going 6-11 with a 2.58 ERA in 26 games (24 starts).
Villar was added to the Brewers 40-man roster, which now stands at 35 players.