Former No. 1 pick Mark Appel goes to Phillies in Ken Giles trade

The final deal is a seven-player trade between Houston and Philadelphia.

by Eric Stephen

Dec 12, 2015, 9:35 PM UTC

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

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Ken Giles traded from Phillies to Astros in 7-player deal

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The Houston Astros completed their trade for closer Ken Giles from the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday, though the finalized transaction was larger than the originally reported one. The finalized trade features seven players - two headed to Houston, and five headed to Philadelphia, including former No. 1 overall pick Mark Appel.

The original deal reported Wednesday was a 4-for-1 swap, but the finalized version has each team adding a Panamanian player named Arauz, and they aren’t related. Jonathan Arauz, a 17-year-old shortstop, goes to Philadelphia, with one season in the Gulf Coast League under his belt. Harold Arauz, a 20-year-old right-handed pitcher, goes to Houston, with 178 strikeouts in 185⅓ innings as a pro, having spent 2015 with Class-A Tri City in the New York Penn League.

The final trade is Giles and Jonathan Arauz to Houston in exchange for pitchers Thomas Eshelman, Brett Oberholtzer, Vince Velasquez, Appel and Harold Arauz to Philadelphia.

Appel was the No. 1 overall selection in the 2013 draft, the second No. 1 overall pick to be traded before reaching the big leagues this week, joining 2015 No. 1 pick Darby Swanson, who went from the Arizona Diamondbacks to the Atlanta Braves in the Shelby Miller trade.

Appel replaces outfielder Derek Fisher in the earlier reported version of the trade. The right-handed pitcher out of Stanford was 10-3 with a 4.37 ERA in 25 starts between Double-A Corpus Christi and Triple-A Fresno in 2015, with 110 strikeouts and 51 walks in 131⅔ innings.

So many emotions... Thanks to Houston FO, staff, fans and most of all my teammates. Love you guys! So excited for Philly! God is so good.
— Mark Appel (@MAppel26) December 12, 2015

The headliner of the trade remains Giles, who has a 1.56 ERA in two major league seasons and a 32.5-percent strikeout rate. He saved 15 games down the stretch for Philadelphia in 2015 after Jonathan Papelbon was traded.

“Our primary objective this offseason has been to add quality arms to our bullpen,” said Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow in a statement. “Ken Giles is a premium pitcher who will play an important role by getting critical outs for the Astros for years to come.”