DONE DEAL

Josh Hader finalizes $95 million, 5-year contract with Houston Astros

Josh Hader finalizes $95 million, 5-year contract with Houston Astros
It's a done deal! Photo via: Wiki Commons.

Hard-throwing reliever Josh Hader and the Houston Astros finalized a $95 million, five-year contract on Monday.

Hader will get a $19 million salary in each of the next five seasons, none of it deferred. He gets a full no-trade provision and would receive a $1 million bonus for winning the Mariano Rivera/Trevor Hoffman Reliever of the Year Award.

Hader’s deal can be considered the most lucrative for a relief pitcher, even while falling short of the total dollars in Edwin Díaz’s $102 million, five-year contract with the New York Mets that began last year. Díaz’s deal includes $26.5 million in deferred payments he won’t completely receive until 2042 and was valued at $93.2 million for baseball’s luxury tax and $88.8 million by the players’ association.

A 29-year-old with long, flowing hair, Hader returns to the Astros organization after spending two years in their minor league system from mid-2013 through mid-2015. He figures to take over as closer and push Ryan Pressly back to a setup role in a bullpen that also includes Rafael Montero and Bryan Abreu.

Héctor Neris became a free agent and remains unsigned. Houston reached the agreement three days after announcing reliever Kendall Graveman will miss the season after right shoulder surgery.

Hader became a free agent for the first time last fall after turning down a $20,325,000 qualifying offer from San Diego, which acquired him in a deadline trade from Milwaukee in 2022. Hader made $14.1 million last year.

He was 2-3 with a 1.28 ERA and 33 saves in 38 chances for San Diego in 61 appearances last season, striking out 85 and walking 30 in 56 1/3 innings. He disappointed in his Padres debut season with a 7.31 ERA and seven saves over 19 games down the stretch.

Hader has been picked to the last five National League All-Star teams, starting in 2018, his first full season in the big leagues. During the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, when there wasn’t an All-Star Game, Hader had 13 saves to lead the NL for the only time.

He is 20-21 with a 2.50 ERA with 165 saves in 190 chances over 349 appearances with the Brewers and Padres.

A Maryland native, Hader was a 19th-round draft pick out of high school by Baltimore in the 2012 amateur draft. Hader got traded a year later to Houston, which in 2015 sent him to Milwaukee as part of a six-player deal. He made his big league debut in June 2017, and had a 2.08 ERA in 35 appearances the rest of that season.

Because Hader turned down a qualifying offer, San Diego will receive an extra pick in next July’s amateur draft. Houston will forfeit a draft selection.

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Should Framber Valdez also be traded this offseason? Composite Getty Image.

With Kyle Tucker officially a member of the Cubs, the Astros still have some burning questions to address. Does the decision to move Tucker mean the championship window is closed?

And if that is indeed the case, would the Astros be better off trading Framber Valdez before the season starts? Or should they hold onto to Framber considering the team is currently favored to win the AL West once again?

Which begs the question. Is it possible to have a soft rebuild while also contending?

Don't miss the video above as ESPN Houston's John Granato and Lance Zierlein share their thoughts on the state of the organization, and how they should proceed this offseason.

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