MLB Insider Reports Houston Astros Actively Looking to Offload Star Closer

The Houston Astros are actively trying to trade star closer Ryan Pressly according to recent reports.

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The Houston Astros are actively trying to trade star closer Ryan Pressly according to a Sunday report from Bob Nightengale of USA Today.

Nightengale put the information in his article slyly in a statement saying that if Houston does indeed lose Alex Bregman in free agency and is entering as state as a franchise where they may not be a World Series contender without some serious re-tooling, they could trade Pressly to a team like the Phillies in exchange for Alec Bohm. He then added the fact that Pressly is being 'extensively shopped.'

Pressly had been serving as the team's primary closer since 2020, but it's a role he lost in 2024 after the Astros traded for Josh Hader from the San Diego Padres coming off the best season of Hader's career. Hader took a major step back in 2024, going from a 1.28 ERA to a 3.80. Pressly on the other hand posted a similarly good not great season in 2024 that he did in 2023, hovering around the 3.50 ERA mark. In the two years prior, he had a career low ERA of 2.25 in 2021 and a 2.98 in 2022.

Now 36 years old and set to receive $14 million this year and hit free agency next offseason, moving Pressly now makes a lot of sense if Houston no longer thinks it can compete for a championship in 2025. As Nightengale stated, a lot of that is going to be determined by whether or not Bregman ends up back with the team or not. Bregman's status could go a long way towards figuring out exactly what the goal is next season.

Coming off seven consecutive ALCS appearances that included four trips to the World Series and two titles, the Astros were swept in the Wild Card round by former manager A.J. Hinch and the Detroit Tigers. Not to mention, winning the seventh AL West title in the last eight years was as difficult as it's been throughout the run of dominance of the better part of the last decade.

With aging veterans at numerous positions, a re-tooling over the next year or two may be in order and in the best interest of the future of the franchise if they don't think they can win a World Series in 2025.

Trading an All-Star reliever like Pressly, though it would be fairly unpopular among the fanbase, would be a good way to potentially accelerate that process.