Astros New Trade Acquisition Reveals Hilarious Story of How He Learned of Deal

The new pitcher for the Houston Astros found out he was coming to them team the old fashioned way.

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The Houston Astros went into the offseason needing desperately to improve upon what they had in the building after their first missed postseason appearance in close to a decade.

Interestingly, they have chosen largely not to shop via free agency, instead making trades -- and being rumored for others -- to make tweaks and hopefully put themselves in a better spot. Following a season where it felt like virtually every single starting pitcher on the team dealt with injury, depth in the rotation was always going to be key.

Houston did spend on Tatsuya Imai in free agency, however they also made a trade with brought Mike Burrows to town coming off a very solid season with the Pittsburgh Pirates. When it comes to how he found out about the deal, Burrows revealed a hilariously relatable tale.

During an appearance on the Crush City Territory podcast, Burrows talked to Tyler Stafford and Chandler Rome and said it was his friends who initially broke the news to him.

Burrows Learned He Was Dealt to Astros in Fantasy Football Group Chat

Mike Burrows found out that he got traded to the Astros from his fantasy football group chat. 😂 pic.twitter.com/EErV33hppJ

— Crush City Territory (@Crush_City_Pod) January 8, 2026

"Yeah, I find out through the fantasy football group chat with a bunch of guys," Burrows said when asked about the immediate aftermath of being traded in Major League Baseball. "So it was a little bit of a shock, you don't know if it's true, you're looking at Twitter and then your agent calls...it was such a random thing.

"I heard murmurs through winter meetings, but those kind of settled down, all I'm thinking about is Christmas and getting shopping done. Then I randomly get a text like that and it's the start of my day."

Burrows might be the first person to find out he was having to move across the country via a text from his fantasy buddies, but it's safe to say Houston was excited to be able to get him and he's a huge part of the plan next year on a team which hopes to win big.

Astros Could Benefit Immensely if Burrows Keeps Improving

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As a rookie in 2025, Burrows stepped into a significant roll in the Pittsburgh rotation after a dominant start to the year in Triple-A. Showing tremendous promise, he pitched to a 3.94 ERA and 1.240 WHIP with a bWAR of 1.5 across 23 appearances including 19 starts.

Showing impressive command, Burrows racked up 97 strikeouts in 96 innings with just 31 walks on the year, establishing himself as someone the rest of the baseball world needed to keep an eye on.

Clearly, Houston and general manager Dana Brown took notice and gave up a legitimate haul of prospect capital to secure the services of the 26-year-old, and now it will be up to him to hold up his end of the bargain.

The Astros landed a controllable young arm with some serious upside and time will tell if the Burrows deal works out for them. Whether it does or doesn't though, chances are he's always gonna remember the day he was sent to Houston and found out by his buddies lighting up his phone with the news.

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