Josh Rojas - The Trade Deadline
Late on July 31, the day of the Major League Baseball Trade Deadline, the Arizona Diamondbacks and Houston Astros struck a blockbuster deal. The Diamondbacks sent their ace and highest-paid player, Zack Greinke, to the Astros in exchange for four prospects. Seth Beer, Houston's number three prospect according to MLB
Late on July 31, the day of the Major League Baseball Trade Deadline, the Arizona Diamondbacks and Houston Astros struck a blockbuster deal. The Diamondbacks sent their ace and highest-paid player, Zack Greinke, to the Astros in exchange for four prospects. Seth Beer, Houston's number three prospect according to MLB Pipeline, along with J.B. Bukauskas, number four, Corbin Martin, number five, and Josh Rojas, number 22 were sent to Arizona. Rojas was sent to Reno and made his first start in an Aces uniform two days after the trade.
The trade deadline is hectic for all players, especially in the minor leagues, because they're always on the block. Rojas' day was full speed from the instant he woke up.
"I woke up to four or five texts from my friends. There was a rumor going out that the Giants were interested. So, I was kind of nervous," he said.
Rojas was with his team, the Round Rock Express at home in Round Rock getting ready for their game against the Fresno Grizzlies. They had ground balls at 3:00 p.m. local time, but with that being the end of the deadline in Round Rock, he and teammate Alex De Goti asked to move it back to 3:05 in order to catch any last-minute action.
"We saw the trade deadline end, no moves were made, so we were pretty excited that nothing happened, I mean, we were all going to stay together," Rojas said.
However, a couple of the Astros moves weren't announced until a few minutes after the deadline ends. They don't have to be announced before the deadline, but they have to be sent in before.
About five minutes into Rojas' groundball session, one of his Round Rock teammates yelled that Dereck Fisher, another Round Rock teammate, was sent to the Toronto Blue Jays. They were excited for him, in Toronto, he will likely get a chance to play a lot.
"Two minutes, three minutes after that, he yelled down that the Astros got Greinke. So, we knew that that was a pretty big piece, that they were going to have to give up a lot to get Greinke. So, we were kind of nervous about who got sent in that trade," said the 25-year-old.
Yet, they stayed on schedule. They were taking groundballs and doing their normal game-day routine. Then, about three minutes later, the return for Greinke was announced.
"Our manager [Mickey Storey] gets a call from our farm director, he answers it and starts pointing at me and telling me I was gone," Rojas said.
His next move was to go home and do laundry and get ready to make the move from Round Rock to Reno.
"I got a call from Mike, the D-Backs Farm Director, telling me about my schedule. I was flying out the next morning at 8:00 a.m., and then I was here," he said.
Rojas was drafted by the Houston Astros in the 26th round of the 2017 draft out of the University of Hawaii at Moana and being in the Astros organization for his entire career, he made friends.
"I have a lot of friends in the organization, I'm comfortable there, I love all the staff and everything, so I was kind of nervous about getting traded," he explained.
But now, he's a part of the organization of the team where he grew up. Rojas was born in Glendale, Arizona and went to high school at Millennium High School in Goodyear, Arizona.
"As much as it stinks getting traded away from all your boys, and the people that you've kind of grown with that last two and a half year and kind of all been working together and grinding together on the same dream, it was really exciting to get an opportunity to come and play for the hometown team," said the Arizona native.
Rojas is excited to come in and build new relationships with teammates he describes as "cool and accepting" in his short time here.
He's not coming here alone, though. He has a relationship with all three players that were also sent over in the deal. Having all played with them at one point or another, he knows all three of them well.
"We all played together in Corpus, I started out the year in [Double-A] Corpus and we all played together. Corbin [Martin] actually started the year in Triple-A, but I had played the full year with him the year before and I was pretty close with him," he said of the pitcher.
They were immediately in a group chat together. The four newest Diamondbacks prospects talked about how quickly they had to move and get their stuff together. Beer and Bukauskas told the other two when they landed in Jackson to play with the Diamondbacks Double-A affiliate Jackson Generals.
"I told them that hopefully, I see them soon here," Rojas said of the newest Jackson Generals.
The Aces will be Rojas' third team in 2019, but he's familiar with the PCL. After opening the season with Houston's Double-A affiliate Corpus Christi, he was promoted to Triple-A Round Rock. In 53 games with Round Rock, Rojas hit .310 with a .987 OPS, 12 home runs, 16 doubles, 39 RBI and 19 stolen bases. He was named the Player of the Week on May 26, 2019.
In his three games since joining the Aces, Rojas is 12-for-20 with a home run, nine RBI, two doubles, a stolen base, and seven runs scored. He's also played all over the field, playing third his first game, shortstop his second and left field in his third.
Orioles' Honeycutt joins The Show Before the Show
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Red Sox prospect rips double THROUGH Fenway-esque scoreboard
Red Sox No. 4 prospect Franklin Arias, an infielder for High-A Greenville, REALLY didn’t want to let visiting Asheville score any runs in the top of the eighth inning on Friday night. With runners on first and second base in the bottom of the fourth, Arias showed he apparently held
April's hottest hitting prospects -- one for each organization
The Minor League season is a month old and several of the game's best hitting prospects are off to fast starts. Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony is tearing up Triple-A (just like he did at the end of last year), Padres shortstop Leo De Vries is leading the High-A Midwest
Check out the best -- and wackiest -- Minor League promos happening in May
Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from the Baseball Traveler newsletter, presented by Circle K, is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.
MiLB podcast coming LIVE to a Somerset this June
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
New ballparks highlight 2025 MiLB road trip stops
Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from the Baseball Traveler newsletter, presented by Circle K, is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.
Minor League Baseball partners with TruGreen
FRANKLIN, Tenn. -- TruGreen, the nation's leading lawn care treatment provider, is proud to announce a groundbreaking partnership with Minor League Baseball that includes activations across all 120 clubs, a makeover of the home dugout in each market, sponsorship of select MiLB team grounds crews, and a new initiative called
Podcast explains why the Syracuse Mets are looking for Jim Morrison
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Dash im-prom-tu promo and Mets' Suero joins the podcast
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Minor League Baseball partners with Circle K
Minor League Baseball announced a new national partnership with Circle K, which will see the convenience store giant become the “Official Convenience Store of Minor League Baseball.” During the 2025 season, the Circle K brand will be integrated into the MiLB in-stadium experience through in-game video board assets at most
These 15 moments led to season No. 15 of Minor League road trips
Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from his newsletter is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.
MiLB podcast crew makes Opening Day predictions
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Everything you need to know for Triple-A Opening Day
First, there was big league Opening Day. Now it's Triple-A's turn to take the spotlight. The Minor League season opens Friday when the Triple-A International League and Pacific Coast League seasons get underway for the first of MiLB’s two Opening Days. And right out of the gates, several of baseball's
Top prospects to watch at Triple-A -- one for each organization
It’s Triple-A’s turn up to bat on Friday. The regular season begins for the Minor Leagues’ highest level one day after the action starts on the Major League side. Fun fact: it’ll be the earliest start to a Minor League season since 1951 (March 27). Double-A, High-A and Single-A will
Here's where every Top 100 prospect is expected to start the season
The 2025 Opening Day prospect roster announcements began last week when the Cubs informed Matt Shaw (MLB No. 19) he was making the trip overseas to compete in the Tokyo Series. Roki Sasaki (No. 1) also received the good news, but his assignment was much less of a surprise. Now
Nationals prospect King joins MiLB podcast
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Here are the 2025 All-Spring Breakout Teams
Fifteen games, several jersey swaps and countless highlights later, the second edition of Spring Breakout has officially concluded – and it lived up to its billing. Of the 16 contests sprinkled across four days, only one game (Dodgers vs. Cubs) was rained out. Coincidentally, the Cubs were one of two
Rox young sluggers aim to bring pop back to Coors Field
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Coors Field may provide the best run-scoring environment in Major League Baseball, but the Rockies haven’t taken advantage of it in recent years. Even without adjusting for Coors, they have fielded offenses worse than the league average the past three seasons, and they scored the fewest runs
Astros brass sees potential in consistently 'underranked' farm system
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The last time the Astros landed in the top 10 of MLB Pipeline’s farm system rankings was before the 2019 season. Since those rankings expanded to all 30 teams ahead of the 2020 season -- 11 lists in total -- they’ve never ranked higher than
Complete results and highlights from Spring Breakout
The second edition of MLB Spring Breakout is complete, and there was no shortage of highlights from the future stars of Major League Baseball over the four-day showcase. Here's a complete breakdown of the 16-game exhibition:
Southpaw Spring Breakout: White Sox future on display with Schultz, Smith
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- If all goes as planned for the White Sox, left-handers Hagen Smith and Noah Schultz won’t spend much time following each other to the mound in a single game. Schultz, the No. 1 White Sox prospect and No. 16 overall, per MLB Pipeline, and Smith, who is
In first pro game, Rainer offers pop, promise to Tigers fans
NORTH PORT, Fla. -- Bryce Rainer’s pro career consisted of workouts and batting practice until Sunday.
'Me and Brady on the dirt again': House, King reunite at Spring Breakout
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The 2025 Spring Breakout was a flashback for Brady House and Seaver King. Over 10 years ago, the infielders were travel ball teammates in Georgia who shared the dream of making it to the Major Leagues. Now, they are top prospects in the same organization,
Lambert -- 'an adrenaline guy' -- hoping to be next Mets bullpen gem
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Ryan Lambert loves throwing hard. He relishes the idea of getting to two strikes and blowing hitters away. “Get me in a game,” Lambert said, “cool things will happen.”
Stewart embraces Spring Breakout: 'What's not to love?'
PHOENIX -- Sal Stewart was one fired-up Reds prospect. On Sunday in the first inning during the organization's 9-7 Spring Breakout win over Brewers prospects, Stewart lifted a 2-2 pitch that sailed over the center fielder's head to the wall. Already not known as a speedster, he stumbled running between