Padres watch the Astros gamble on a 2023 breakout arm they wouldn’t wait on

There’s a specific kind of baseball annoyance reserved for this move — the one where you know you can justify it, but it still makes you roll your eyes.

The Astros are reportedly bringing in lefty reliever Tom Cosgrove on a minor-league deal with a non-roster invite, and he’d make $900K if he cracks the big-league roster. That’s the definition of a low-risk flier for Houston. For the Padres, it’s the definition of a familiar punchline: another recent Petco bullpen “find” getting a fresh runway somewhere else.

Padres see the Astros take an annoyingly smart shot with Tom Cosgrove

Cosgrove is the perfect snapshot of how fast relievers can flip from “weapon” to “why is this happening.” In 2023, he looked like one of those classic Padres bullpen discoveries — 51 1/3 innings with a 1.75 ERA. But the underlying indicators weren’t screaming dominance, and once the results wobbled, the leash got short. 

In 2024, he got hit around to the tune of 19 runs in 14 2/3 innings, and the Padres eventually designated him for assignment the next spring.  San Diego sold him to the Cubs for cash in April 2025, which is basically baseball’s version of “thanks for the memories, good luck out there.” 

The Astros are exactly the kind of team that should take this swing. Houston doesn’t need Cosgrove to be a “late-inning guy.” They just need him to be usable — something they can stash in the depth pile and see if the 2023 version shows up again. If not? It’s only a minor-league deal, spring invite, next arm up. 

For the Padres, it’s a reminder of how thin the margin is when you’re living roster spot to roster spot. They’ve been great at finding relievers — and just as quick to move on when the volatility shows up. Sometimes that’s smart process. Relievers break your heart for fun. But it also creates this frustrating pattern: San Diego does the discovery work, then another organization gets the “rebuild the confidence in a lower-leverage role” phase.

Maybe Cosgrove never gets back to that 2023 magic. Maybe the command issues stay loud and he’s just Triple-A insurance again. But the headline isn’t “Astros found a steal.” It’s that Houston gets to take the kind of cheap, low-pressure gamble the Padres didn’t feel they could afford anymore — and that’s the part that stings.