Astros acquire Hank Conger from Angels for Nick Tropeano, Carlos Perez

The Astros have acquired catcher Hank Conger from the Angels in exchange for right-hander Nick Tropeano and right-hander Carlos Perez, according to a team announcement. Conger and Tropeano will take 40-man roster spots on their new teams' rosters.

Conger, who turns 27 in February, will likely back up Jason Castro in Houston, putting the future of catchers Carlos Corporan and Max Stassi in jeopardy. According to Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports, Conger's pitch-framing skills were probably the main reason that the Astros went after him, in part due to team analyst Mike Fast being a pioneer in viewing pitch-framing as an important skill.

Conger has hit .224/.294/.353 with seventeen home runs and 171 RBI in 251 major league games since breaking into the majors in 2010. He appeared in 80 games in 2014, hitting .221/.293/.325. He is under team control through the end of the 2017 season.

Tropeano, 24, was ranked by Baseball America as the Astros' eighteenth best prospect heading into the season and started four games for the Astros in 2014. He was 1-3 with a 4.57 ERA in that time, but put together a solid season with Triple-A Oklahoma City, pitching to a 3.03 ERA in 23 appearances (20 starts). MLB.com ranks Tropeano as the thirteenth best prospect in the Astros' deep system as of now, citing his strikeout totals and impressive fastball and changeup as reasons to be optimistic for his future.

Perez, 24, has never appeared in the majors but has posted a lifetime .277/.359/.393 line with 20 home runs and 253 RBI in parts of seven minor league seasons in the Blue Jays and Astros organizations. He spent 2014 with Oklahoma City, hitting .259/.323/.385 in 88 games.