Astros and Ryan Pressly agree on a two-year extension, per report

It looks like the Astros will be extending one of their players after all, as FanSided’s Robert Murray reports that the club has come to terms with closer Ryan Pressly on a two-year extension, with the possibility of it ultimately being a three-year pact:

As Murray notes in a subsequent tweet, the $15 million AAV makes Pressly one of the top five highest paid relievers in baseball.

After occupying the fireman role in Houston’s bullpen in 2018 and 2019, the All-Star reliever became the Astros’ closer in 2020 and has accumulated 38 saves in 44 opportunities since, including a 26-of-28 conversion ratio in 2021, when Pressly was selected to the All-Star team for the second time in his career. He sported a 2.25 ERA across 64 innings last season and finished the campaign with a career-best 2.4 fWAR. During the postseason, he allowed only 1 run in 9 ²⁄₃ innings, striking out 14 batters while walking just 2.

2022 will be Pressly’s age-33 season, and based on how dominant he was in 2021 — with his usual mid-90s velocity still intact — this figures to be a good deal for both sides. Few relievers have as well-rounded a profile in terms of strikeouts, walks and ground balls. His xERA was in the top 3 percent in baseball.

Because Pressly’s new contract will not go into effect until 2023, the Astros still remain roughly $32 million below the CBT threshold for 2022, per FanGraphs’ RosterResource.