By Chandler Rome, Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney
After authoring the winter’s biggest blockbuster, the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros are again heavily involved in trade discussions. The Cubs have emerged as a serious suitor for Houston setup man Ryan Pressly, multiple sources told The Athletic. By Thursday night, it was unclear whether Pressly would waive his no-trade clause to join the Cubs, and no deal was believed to be imminent.
Trading All-Star outfielder Kyle Tucker to the Cubs last month did not stop Houston from shopping Pressly throughout the winter to create space on its bloated payroll. The Astros will almost certainly have to pay down some of Pressly’s $14 million salary to make a deal amenable to any club.
Moving even a majority of Pressly’s salary could enhance the Astros’ pursuit of Alex Bregman, the free-agent third baseman with whom they’ve re-engaged in recent days. According to Cot’s Contracts, Houston is already around $2.5 million over the first luxury-tax threshold with Pressly on the roster.
The Toronto Blue Jays and an unidentified West Coast team are among the clubs that have expressed interest in Pressly, who was demoted last season after Houston signed All-Star closer Josh Hader.
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Pressly endured an uneven year in an unfamiliar role, though he still finished with a 3.49 ERA and a 3.10 FIP. During the Winter Meetings, Astros manager Joe Espada acknowledged it was a “tough” adjustment.
“I’m used to Pressly coming in in the ninth and (shutting) the door, so it took some time for him to adjust,” Espada said. “Once he did, I think he got it going, and I think he threw some big innings for us.”
That experience in huge moments would be valuable for a Cubs team trying to break through an 83-win ceiling and qualify for the playoffs. After acquiring Tucker, Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer made it clear that acquiring an established reliever would be a priority.
Pressly, 36, would instantly become the most accomplished pitcher in Wrigley Field’s home bullpen. He has competed in 17 postseason rounds with the Astros (2.78 ERA), helping them win the 2022 World Series. His know-how, composure and sense of routine could help develop the younger pitchers the Cubs have assembled, and give manager Craig Counsell a proven option for the ninth inning.
The Cubs are looking beyond Pressly’s struggles to miss bats last season. His strikeout rate, which peaked in 2022 at 35.7 percent, has since dropped precipitously (23.8 percent last year). His fastball velocity dropped to a career-low 93.6 mph last season after hovering in the 95-96 mph range for much of his career.
The Cubs are obviously aware of what’s happening with Pressly, but they aren’t overly concerned with those developments. Despite the drop in velocity, he really knows how to spin the ball, which likely means he could lean more on his slider and curveball rather than pushing his four-seam fastball usage from last season (33.3 percent).
The Cubs would also hope to tease a little more velocity back out of Pressly, who has historically had strong ground-ball numbers, which would play well on a team with multiple Gold Glove defenders.
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal contributed to this report.
(Photo: Kevin M. Cox / Associated Press)
