HOUSTON – Getting a closer meant appeasing the other one he already had employed, so Houston Astros general manager Dana Brown stopped his breakneck pursuit of Josh Hader to make a call. Houston's courtship of Hader “came together in nearly 72 hours,” Brown said, but could not be intensified before the team informed Ryan Pressly of his possible demotion.
“I didn’t want to move forward here without speaking to Pressly,” Brown said Saturday afternoon during the team’s annual FanFest at Minute Maid Park.
“I think Pressly means so much to this organization. His leadership in the clubhouse, his leadership in the bullpen, the things he's done for this organization – all the postseason saves and all the in-season saves. He was just a pillar. But I wanted to talk to him because I know it’s the right thing to do.”
Brown and first-year manager Joe Espada contacted Pressly on Wednesday when it emerged that the Astros were serious suitors for Hader. In conversations on Saturday, both men described Pressly as a “real professional.” Espada claimed twice that Pressly was all in on the idea of adding Hader to one of the best bullpens in baseball right now.
Whether these conversations left behind Pressly content remains a mystery. He was one of 17 players who took part in the festivities at Minute Maid Park on Saturday, but the only one not included in an interview schedule distributed to reporters Friday afternoon – before news of Hader's five-year, $95 million contract dollar became known at all. On Saturday, Pressly declined multiple interview requests through a team spokesman.
“Pressly is totally into it. He says, 'Joe, I understand. We want to win. “This guy is one of the best pitchers there is, and I understand that.” He's excited. I'm excited. Everyone is excited,” Espada said. “Now we need to communicate how we move forward and we will get those conversations underway here in the coming days.”
The arrival of Josh Hader will put Ryan Pressly in a different bullpen role. (Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
Urgent speech or silence does not change an underlying truth: the situation is delicate at best. The Astros are a far better team with Hader, but in his first season as a major league manager, Espada's job is to maintain absolute harmony.
Espada said Saturday he had not yet spoken with Hader, who still needs to undergo a physical exam before his deal becomes official. In six seasons as Houston's coach, Espada established himself as an excellent communicator and someone with whom players could easily identify.
Both qualities are necessary to prevent an already unpleasant situation from becoming another distraction. Teammates have long reiterated what Brown and Espada reiterated Saturday — that Pressly embodies professionalism and puts the team's success above his own — but he's still a person who needs to enjoy feeling valued. To some extent, signing Hader could be seen as a humiliation.
Pressly has 90 regular-season saves, a 141 ERA+ and a 0.985 WHIP since becoming the full-time closer in 2021. He hasn't allowed an earned run in his last 22 2/3 postseason innings and has more playoff saves than any closer in franchise history. He hasn't done anything to deserve a demotion, but could still receive one.
“He’s the guy we went to. He completed a World Series for us. He was our guy,” said starter Lance McCullers Jr. “Keeping him informed and keeping him updated on the situation is, I think, hugely important to the players. I think a lot of times teams just sign people and think, “It's a business.” But there's a big human aspect that we have here. I think the front office understands that. I think Dana understands that because he's a baseball player and he's been around the game for so long. I think Ryan probably appreciated it.”
Espada believes in defined roles for players – “We owe it to them,” he said on Saturday – and sounded like a manager who will eventually name a goalkeeper in his own right. He sidestepped that question Saturday morning, claiming, “It'll work itself out” when the team gets to spring training, but Hader's salary and contract structure aren't suited to setup people.
“We have an elite bullpen, three elite guys that could finish any game at any time,” Espada said. “I will sit down and happily assign these guys roles so they know exactly how they will be used in the game. But (like) we've done in the past, if it's the eighth inning where there are some lefties and that might be a better bag for some hitters, then that might be his inning. But I would like to have an established role for these guys.”
Even if these roles are fixed, it's easy to imagine how fluid they could become. Matchups and workload, far more than any title he might hand out in spring training, will determine how Espada handles the end of games.
Hader, Pressly and Bryan Abreu won't be available to pitch every day. All three relievers are dominant on both sides of the plate, but when faced with a series of deadly lefties in the eighth inning, it stands to reason that the left-handed Hader might be a more logical choice than Pressly or Abreu. two rights.
Hader hasn't recorded more than three outs in a regular-season game since 2020. Pressly managed it just twice last season and once in 2021. Asked Saturday if he sees Hader as someone who only gets three outs, Espada replied: “I understand when he comes in, he stops the inning, one Out, two outs, whatever it is.”
Hader still needs to meet Espada and pitching coaches Josh Miller and Bill Murphy before a clearer picture of his preferences can emerge. The team signed Hader to create baseball's most feared bullpen, not to stir up a narrower controversy.
Pressly doesn't have the kind of personality that's conducive to getting you fired up – perhaps the biggest insight Brown observed in a phone call that might otherwise have been awkward.
“I hung up and was excited,” Brown said. “This guy will do anything to win. I was more excited about it.”
(Top photo by Ryan Pressly: Carmen Mandato / Getty Images)