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By Jon Vankin
Contributing Sports Writer
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On Thursday, the same day The Athletic reported that the Houston Astros had reopened talks with their free agent third baseman Alex Bregman, the team was also reported to be attempting to shed reliever and former lights-out closer Ryan Pressly. If the Astros can ship the 36-year-old Pressly to the Chicago Cubs, as reported, they would free themselves of his $14 million salary.
According to New York Post baseball insider Jon Heyman, "if the Astros are able to trade Pressly, that could provide (financial) flexibility and enhance their chances to bring back star 3B Alex Bregman, people involved say."
The catch is that Pressly has a full no-trade clause in his contract, meaning his approval would be needed before he is shipped to Chicago or anywhere else. As of Thursday afternoon, according to Chandler Rome of The Athletic, "Pressly is still on the block and could be traded. But no deal is imminent and he has not waived his no-trade clause for any deal."
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But Bleacher Nation writer Michael Cerami speculated the deal was already worked out between the Astros and Cubs, and the holdup comes from Pressly, who has only one year left on his contract and wants the Cubs to add another one before he approves the trade.
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"There's plenty to like about Ryan Pressly, even though he 'lost' his closer job to Josh Hader last season," Cerami wrote. "With that said, his strikeout rate has dropped considerably in recent years and his fastball is down a couple of clicks, as well."
Cerami is correct. According to Fangraphs statistics, Pressly's strikeout percentage peaked at 35.7 in 2022, after residing over the 30 percent mark every year since 2018. But in 2023 his rate dropped to 27.6 percent and fell further to 23.8 percent last season.
There has been no reporting as of Thursday afternoon about what type of package the Cubs would offer in return for Pressly.
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