Angels' AL West Rival Makes Huge Free Agent Signing
The Los Angeles Angels' American League West rival Houston Astros have made a huge free agent splash, signing All-Star closer Josh Hader to a five-year, $95 million deal. ESPN's Jeff Passan reported the news on Friday.
Hader, 29, was looking to surpass Edwin Diaz's five-year, $102 million deal he signed with the New York Mets. Since Diaz's deal had deferrals, Hader's deal is the largest present-day value contract for a reliever in Major League Baseball history.
The Astros were reported to be making a "strong push" to sign Hader on Thursday, and on Friday, that deal came to fruition. Following the loss of Kendall Graveman for the season due to a shoulder injury, it made sense for the Astros to add a dominant back-end reliever.
As for the Angels, their division rival is adding arguably the best closer in baseball. Hader is coming off another All-Star campaign in 2023 when he held a 1.28 ERA and had 85 strikeouts in 56.1 innings. He earned himself a record-breaking contract, and unfortunately for the Angels, it came with the division-rival Astros.
In Hader's career against the Halos, he's made three appearances and hasn't allowed an earned run in those 2.2 innings pitched.
