Ramon Urias to Astros, Andrew Kittredge to Cubs as Orioles sell

The Houston Astros got their third baseman, acquiring Ramon Urias and cash considerations from the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday for minor-league pitching prospect Twine Palmer.

Also Thursday, the Orioles sent right-hander Andrew Kittredge to the Chicago Cubs for minor league shortstop Wilfri De La Cruz.

Baltimore has been quite active this month, shipping right-hander Bryan Baker to the Tampa Bay Rays on July 10, left-hander Gregory Soto to the New York Mets last Friday and righty Seranthony Domínguez to the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday.

Urias, 31, batting.248 with eight homers and 34 RBIs in 77 games on the season, is poised to take over as the starting third baseman for the Astros. Isaac Parades could miss the rest of the season with a hamstring injury.

Urias is a career .259 hitter with 47 homers and 205 RBIs in 506 games with the Orioles. He also won a Gold Glove as a third baseman in 2022, joining Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson (16 times) and Manny Machado (twice) as the lone members of the team to do so.

Palmer, 20, posted a 2-0 record with a 2.13 ERA in 13 appearances (eight starts) with Single-A Fayetteville. The 6-foot-5 right-hander was selected by the Astros in the 19th round of the 2024 first-year player draft out of Connors State College in Oklahoma.

Kittredge, 35, is 2-2 with a 3.45 ERA in 31 relief appearances this season since signing a one-year, $9 million contract in February.

He is 25-14 with 16 saves and a 3.44 ERA in 286 career relief appearances (15 starts) with the Rays, St. Louis Cardinals and Orioles.

De La Cruz, 17, batted .262 in 27 games in the Dominican Summer League.

--Field Level Media