HOUSTON — Acquiring one closer meant appeasing the other he already employed, so Houston Astros general manager Dana Brown stopped his breakneck pursuit of Josh Hader to make a phone call. Houston’s courtship of Hader “came together in almost 72 hours,” Brown said, but could not intensify before the team briefed Ryan Pressly on his possible demotion.
“I didn’t want to get down the road on this without talking to Pressly,” Brown said Saturday afternoon during the team’s annual FanFest at Minute Maid Park.
“I think that Pressly means so much to this organization. His leadership in the clubhouse, his leadership in the bullpen, the things that he’s done for this organization — all of the postseason saves and all of the in-season saves. He’s just been a pillar. But I wanted to talk to him because I know that’s the right thing to do.”
Brown and first-year manager Joe Espada contacted Pressly on Wednesday when it became apparent the Astros were serious suitors for Hader. On Saturday, both men described Pressly as a “true professional” during the discussions. Espada twice claimed Pressly was “all in” with the idea of adding Hader to what is now one of the best bullpens in baseball.
Whether those conversations left Pressly content remains a mystery. He was one of 17 players who attended Saturday’s festivities at Minute Maid Park but the only one not listed on an interview schedule distributed to reporters Friday afternoon — before news of Hader’s five-year, $95 million contract even broke. Saturday, Pressly declined multiple interview requests through a team spokesperson.
“Pressly is all in. He’s like, ‘Joe, I understand. We want to win. This guy’s one of the best pitchers available, and I understand.’ He’s excited. I’m excited. Everyone is excited,” Espada said. “Now we (have) to communicate how we’re going to move forward, and we’ll get those conversations going here in the coming days.”
Pressly speaking or staying silent does not change an underlying truth: The situation is, at best, delicate. The Astros are a far better team with Hader, but maintaining total harmony falls to Espada in his first season as a major-league manager.
Espada said Saturday he had not yet spoken to Hader, who still must pass a physical before his deal becomes official. In six seasons as Houston’s bench coach, Espada established himself as an excellent communicator and someone to whom players could easily relate.
Both traits will be required to prevent an already awkward situation from becoming a further distraction. Teammates have long echoed what Brown and Espada reiterated Saturday — that Pressly epitomizes professionalism and puts the team’s success before his own — but he is still a human being who must enjoy feeling appreciated. To some degree, signing Hader might be viewed as a slight.
Pressly has 90 regular-season saves, a 141 ERA+ and a 0.985 WHIP since he became the full-time closer in 2021. He has not allowed an earned run in his past 22 2/3 postseason innings and has more playoff saves than any closer in franchise history. He’s done nothing to deserve a demotion but could be receiving one anyway.
“He’s the guy that we’ve gone to. He closed out a World Series for us. He’s been our guy,” starter Lance McCullers Jr. said. “Having him in the loop and keeping him updated on the situation, I think, goes a long way with players. I think a lot of times teams probably just sign guys and they would think, ‘This is business.’ But there’s a big human aspect that we have here. I think the front office understands that. Dana, I think, being a baseball man and being around the game so long, understands that. I think Ryan probably appreciated it.”
Espada believes in defined roles for players — “We owe them that,” he said Saturday — and sounded like a manager who will eventually name a standalone closer. He avoided that question Saturday morning, claiming “that’s going to play itself out” when the team gets to spring training, but Hader’s salary and contract structure isn’t one given to setup men.
“We have an elite bullpen, elite three guys that could close any games at any time,” Espada said. “I will sit down, and I would like to assign roles for these guys so they know exactly how they’re going to be deployed in the game. But (like) we’ve done in the past, if it’s the eighth inning where there’s some lefties and that might be a better pocket for some guys, that might be his inning. But I would like to have an established role for these guys.”
Even if those roles are set, it’s easy to envision how fluid they could become. Matchups and workload will determine how Espada handles the end of games far more than any title he might assign in spring training.
Hader, Pressly and Bryan Abreu will not be available to pitch every day. All three relievers are dominant to both sides of the plate, but if a pocket of lethal left-handed hitters is due up in the eighth inning, it stands to reason the left-handed Hader might be a more logical choice than Pressly or Abreu, two righties.
Hader has not gotten more than three outs in a regular-season game since 2020. Pressly did it just twice last season and once in 2021. Asked Saturday whether he views Hader as someone who will get only three outs, Espada replied, “I see him as, when he comes in, (he) shuts down the inning, one out, two outs, whatever it is.”
Hader still needs to meet Espada, along with pitching coaches Josh Miller and Bill Murphy, before a clearer picture of his preferences can manifest. The team signed Hader to create baseball’s most feared bullpen, not to cultivate a closer controversy.
Pressly does not have the sort of personality conducive to fueling one — perhaps the biggest takeaway Brown observed from a phone call that might have otherwise been awkward.
“I hung up the phone and I was excited,” Brown said. “This guy will do whatever it takes to win. I got more excited about it.”
(Top photo of Ryan Pressly: Carmen Mandato / Getty Images)
