Lost in the shuffle of the trade deadline madness was the fact that right-hander Jose Veras was released by the Astros last week, tweets Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle. The former Houston closer had been pitching for the team’s Triple-A affiliate.
Veras, 34, inked a minor league pact with the Astros back in mid-May and reported to extended Spring Training to get up to speed before joining the roster at Triple-A Fresno in June. Veras has previously served as the Astros’ closer and done a fine job, and he performed well in his second stint with Houston last year whilst working in a setup capacity.