The Astros have been within the information loads recently. They traded Ryan Pressly to the Cubs. They reportedly nonetheless have the door open a crack for Alex Bregman and, relatedly, have some willingness to maneuver Jose Altuve from second base to left area. Common supervisor Dana Brown addressed these numerous subjects whereas talking to the media right this moment, with Chandler Rome of The Athletic amongst these to report on his feedback.
On Pressly, Brown mentioned that the connection between himself and the reliever “took a barely totally different flip” when the membership signed Josh Hader going into the 2024 season. “Any time you are taking a major-league participant out of a task the place they really feel snug, it’s going to fracture your relationship some,” Brown mentioned. “I believe we continued to speak. He was a real skilled and I stored it actual as a real skilled myself. Finally, I wouldn’t say (the connection) was the identical as (when) we first met, however I believe there was some frustration, which I completely perceive from a competitor.”
Pressly had been the membership’s nearer for a number of years. He racked up 12 saves within the shortened 2020 season after which completed the following three campaigns with between 26 and 33 saves. However the membership was seeking to bolster the bullpen going into 2024, principally because of components unrelated to Pressly. The Astros had misplaced Héctor Neris, Phil Maton, and Ryne Stanek to free company after which Kendall Graveman required shoulder surgical procedure that was possible going to maintain him out for your entire yr.
They determined that the easiest way so as to add to the bullpen was to get Hader, signing him to a five-year, $95MM contract. He took over the closing duties in Houston, bumping Pressly to a setup position. It appears Pressly was privately a bit miffed by the change, although he didn’t make any public complaints. He was credited with 25 holds and 4 saves final yr whereas posting a 3.49 earned run common.
Rumors of a Pressly commerce have been floating round all winter. A part of the logic was that the Astros have some need to keep away from the aggressive stability tax in 2025, which additionally supplied some motivation for the Kyle Tucker commerce. Pressly’s contract pays him $14MM this yr, a wage in vary of market charges for a stable nearer however maybe a bit excessive for a setup man on a membership attempting to limbo underneath the tax line.
The complication, from an out of doors perspective, was Pressly’s 10-and-5 rights. Since he had no less than 10 years of service and no less than 5 with the Astros, Pressly had the proper to dam any commerce. Since he’s from Texas, it was honest to marvel how a lot urge for food he had for leaving the Astros, however the reviews in regards to the behind-the-scenes discord maybe shed some mild on his choice. By approving a commerce to the Cubs, he’ll get a contemporary begin and certain get an opportunity to be a more in-depth once more.
For the Astros, they despatched $5.5MM to the Cubs within the deal however that also allowed them to clear $8.5MM and duck underneath the tax, no less than for now. Rome provides that Brown is attempting to commerce Rafael Montero however with out getting anyplace. That’s not particularly stunning since Montero posted ERAs close to 5.00 in every of the previous two seasons and has been outrighted off the roster. He’s nonetheless owed $11.5MM for the ultimate yr of his deal, a three-year pact signed within the 2022-23 offseason. At the moment, the membership had parted methods with GM James Click on and had not but employed Brown. Proprietor Jim Crane was working the baseball operations division in the course of the interim, a time through which the Astros signed Montero and José Abreu.
It stays to be seen whether or not the membership will keep underneath the tax line. Latest reporting has prompt that re-signing Bregman remains to be attainable, though the membership has acquired Isaac Paredes and Christian Walker. These two mission because the membership’s third and first baseman respectively however the membership has apparently thought-about re-installing Bregman at third, transferring Paredes to second and Altuve to left.
Regardless of these reviews, Brown characterised the potential of re-signing Bregman as a “longshot” final week and continued to downplay the possibilities right this moment, saying that the plan is one thing that been the topic of in-house discussions and never one thing that has been mentioned with Bregman’s agent, Scott Boras. “We’re undoubtedly having conversations inside our entrance workplace,” Brown mentioned. “We haven’t reached again out to Boras. In some unspecified time in the future, it might flip to that. We’re taking a deep have a look at what it will appear to be if we acquired him and the way it will search for us financially, does it make sense to do it? I’d principally say it’s all inside conversations as to what we wish to do when it comes to Bregman.”
RosterResource at present tasks the membership’s CBT quantity as $236MM, simply shy of the $241MM base threshold. Signing any participant of observe would push them again over the road. That’s very true of Bregman. The Astros have reportedly provided him $156MM over six years, which is a mean annual worth of $26MM. Rome reported final week that the supply remains to be on the desk, regardless of the membership pivoting to Paredes and Walker, although Brown’s framing of issues right this moment suggests their dialogue with Boras has been pretty informal. Bregman has additionally been linked to golf equipment just like the Tigers, Purple Sox, Blue Jays and Cubs however stays unsigned with spring coaching set to ramp up in about two weeks.
As talked about, a domino impact of Bregman returning to Houston could be Altuve ending up in left area, although that looks like it may very well be an element this yr with or with out Bregman. “We aren’t taking something off the desk and we’re weighing all choices,” Brown mentioned. “We’ll see what it appears like in left area with understanding that he’s going to play some second base or be at second base very often, relying on what the teaching employees comes up with. However we’re not taking something off the desk when it comes to seeing what he appears like in left area.”
Altuve has been virtually solely a second baseman in his huge league profession, with six innings at shortstop being his solely expertise anyplace else. He’s by no means been thought to be an particularly sturdy defender, however his already-weak metrics have slid even decrease of late. Altuve has been value -82 Defensive Runs Saved over his whole profession, with DRS tagging him with a -13 grade or worse in every of the previous three seasons.
Shifting him to left area is clearly dangerous on account of his lack of expertise on the market, although the Crawford Packing containers give Daikin Park one of many shallower left fields within the majors, so maybe it’s simpler for the Astros to take such a big gamble. Altuve himself just lately expressed a willingness to do no matter it takes to carry Bregman again to the membership although it’s much less clear how he would really feel transferring to left unbiased of that.
If Altuve can stick within the outfield, it might assist the membership on the market since that’s a transparent weak spot on the roster. The membership plans to have Yordan Alvarez spend extra time because the designated hitter this yr and likewise traded Tucker. That leaves them with Jake Meyers, Chas McCormick, Taylor Trammell and Mauricio Dubón as their projected group on the market. Having Altuve in left with out Bregman on the roster might open up second base time for somebody like Zach Dezenzo, who has at all times hit nicely within the minors however doesn’t at present have a path to common taking part in time.
It’s additionally attainable that the membership pivots to Jorge Polanco, who’s reportedly one other free agent the Astros have been involved with, along with Bregman. Polanco is coming off a tough season and simply had knee surgical procedure however has a powerful pre-2024 observe report. The membership might contemplate Polanco in left area as nicely, although he’s 4 years youthful than Altuve and is a former shortstop.
Polanco can be a switch-hitter, which appears to swimsuit the membership’s preferences. Within the post-Tucker world, Alvarez is the one lefty projected for normal motion as of now. Brown has lengthy mentioned that he wish to add a lefty-swinging outfielder as a means so as to add stability and reiterated that right this moment, saying that including a left-handed bat is “type of a precedence.” Including Polanco after which placing both him or Altuve in left could be an uncommon means of conducting that however is probably extra enticing than signing a free agent like Alex Verdugo or Jason Heyward.
There are loads of transferring items and so they all make the Astros an fascinating membership to look at within the the rest of the offseason. Pitchers and catchers report back to spring coaching in about two weeks.
