Houston Astros favored to trade veteran closer

The Houston Astros are back in the playoff race and are unlikely to hold another fire sale, but could some veterans still be headed to new homes?

As Aaron Gleeman and Eno Sarris laid out their full list of players expected to be available at the upcoming MLB trade deadline, Houston veteran Ryan Pressly was listed as one of the top relievers.

While Pressly is a valuable veteran, he hasn’t performed as well in his new role this season and a split could be beneficial for both parties.

He was a shot-stopper the last three seasons with the Astros and excelled, but his return to the shot-stopper role has led to a drop-off in efficiency. Another contending team in need of a shot-stopper could turn to the right-hander in hopes of returning to last year.

In 33 games, the Texas native has a career-high 4.40 ERA and 1.435 WHIP.

He’s increased the usage of his four-seam fastball and it’s dropped about 1 MPH on average, making it much easier to hit. His normally extremely valuable slider has also been hurt this season.

Now, to be fair to him, his xERA and FIP are a bit lower, indicating that his defense is letting him down with some luck not on his side.

Hitters are no longer being fooled by his pitches at the same rate as before, which has greatly reduced his effectiveness as a player who thrived on strikeouts.

The 35-year-old has a 3.20 ERA in save situations with a WHIP of just 1.093.

The best available reliever has always been considered Oakland Athletics star Mason Miller, but it seems less and less likely that he will be traded by the day. That fact, combined with more teams in contention than out and a scarce market, could drive up the price of valuable pitchers.

Pressly makes $15 million and will be a free agent at the end of the season. He will have a better resume as a stopper than some others on the roster.

Instead of using him in a less effective role, Houston could trade him for a decent prospect to fill out the farm system, which could open them up to trading other players for bigger positions if needed, like starting pitcher or first baseman.