Rooney was elected to minor league free agency after being cut by the Astros at the start of the offseason. The 28-year-old had a brief stint with Houston, who acquired him from the Marlins in a small trade in August. (Rooney could be traded after July 31 because he was on a minor league contract.) The Astros called him up three weeks later for his big league debut. Rooney struckout two of the six batters he faced, while giving up a solo home run Luis Vazquez in his only appearance.
The Astros placed him on the injured list after that game. Rooney underwent season-ending surgery to treat tennis elbow and remove bone spurs. He will try to work his way back to the big leagues with Tampa Bay next spring. Rooney sits just 90-91 MPH with his fastballs, while more often leaning on a breaking ball in the low 80s. He missed a lot of bats in Triple-A, where he struck out 34% of opponents en route to a 2.56 ERA in 43 appearances between Miami’s and Houston’s affiliates. He held left-handed batters to a .155/.282/.169 line with 37 strikeouts and nine walks in 85 Triple-A at-bats this year.
Delgado, 26 in April, has not played in the MLB. He is a former sixth-round pick out of Cleveland who spent last season with the Brewers top farm team. The left-handed hitter slashed a solid .281/.363/.378 while stealing 40 bases in 48 attempts. Delgado is stretched at shortstop but can serve as a depth piece at second or third base.
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