Astros Have Internally Discussed Ryan Pressly Trade

The Astros have had internal conversations about the possibility of trading Ryan Pressly, reports Chandler Rome of the Athletic. While that’d be a logical way to clear payroll space, a deal is complicated by the reliever’s full no-trade rights.

Pressly has a decade of MLB service and has spent five-plus seasons in Houston. Players who meet that criteria have full no-trade protection under the collective bargaining agreement. Pressly could quickly halt trade consideration if he has no desire to leave. (Rome notes that the pitcher’s wife Kat is a Houston native.)

If Pressly is amenable to moving, that would go a long way to opening spending room for the team. The Astros are trying to re-sign Alex Bregman. They could look for help at first base and in the outfield. RosterResource already projects next season’s luxury tax number around $234MM. That’s $7MM shy of the lowest threshold. They’d need to go well into tax territory to retain Bregman. Even if they let the star third baseman walk, they’re likely to push above the tax line for what’d be a second straight year. They’d be subject to higher penalties for exceeding the threshold in back-to-back seasons.

General manager Dana Brown admitted last month that the situation could require the Astros to be “creative” with their payroll. The most straightforward solution — subject to the no-trade complications — is a Pressly deal. The righty triggered a $14MM vesting option for his age-36 season. That’s a pricey sum for a pitcher who lost his spot in the ninth inning when the Astros signed Josh Hader last winter. Pressly featured prominently on MLBTR’s list of the top offseason trade candidates as a result.

While the Astros may not be keen on a $14MM salary, another team could assume that to plug Pressly into the ninth inning. He closed in Houston between 2020-23, locking down 30+ saves in each of the latter two seasons. Pressly hasn’t posted a season with an ERA above 4.00 during his six-plus years with the Astros, though his results have trended slightly downward over the last two seasons.

After turning in consecutive sub-3.00 showings in 2021-22, Pressly has allowed an ERA around 3.50 for the past couple years. He allowed 3.49 earned runs per nine over 56 2/3 innings this past season. His 23.3% strikeout percentage and 48.8% grounder rate, while solid, were each below typical levels. Pressly’s strikeout and whiff rates have dropped in consecutive years. His 93.8 MPH average fastball velocity was down a tick compared to last season.

Pressly appears to be on a slight decline, though he remains a quality late-game arm. A $14MM salary is about the range he’d expect as a free agent. The Orioles committed $13MM to Craig Kimbrel last winter, while the Pirates signed Aroldis Chapman for $10.5MM. The Rangers added David Robertson on a deferred $11.5MM deal. Pressly falls into that bucket of one-time star closers who are still effective but not as dominant as they were at their peak. The Astros could probably find a taker for the majority or all of the money, but teams aren’t going to part with significant prospect capital to acquire what is essentially a market value contract.

Hader will be back in the ninth inning. Bryan Abreu remains an excellent setup option. A Pressly trade would put more pressure on the likes of Tayler Scott and potentially Bryan King to prove themselves capable of pitching meaningful innings.