Ex-Valleycats on the move

A year ago, Seth Beer was the Houston Astros' first round draft pick. Nearly 14 months later, Beer finds himself with another organization.

Earlier today, Beer, along with Corbin Martin and two other minor leaguers, was traded by Houston to Arizona for ace pitcher Zack Greinke. It's just the nature of the business of the game.

There were a couple of other deals involving ex-Valleycats in the last 48 hours.

Also today, infielder Tony Kemp, who was designated for assignment by Houston last weekend, was shipped to the Chicago Cubs for catcher Martin Maldonado, who finished 2018 with Houston. The Cubs had acquired Maldonado from Kansas City a couple of weeks back as injury insurance for Willson Contreras, who has since come off the injured list.

On Monday, pitcher Jordan Lyles, who was with Tri-City many moons ago, was traded from Pittsburgh to NL Central rival Milwaukee. Prior to that, A. J. Reed was dealt by Houston to the Chicago White Sox.

The Valleycats have had more than 60 players graduate to the majors since the team began play in 2002. The family tree, if you will, has extended across MLB. Evidence of that was when J. D. Davis was traded in the offseason to the Mets, and has produced for New York as a reserve, currently the starting left fielder. You'd be hard pressed to find a team that doesn't have an ex-Valleycat on their roster. Just try it.