Breakdown of Houston Astros' Contract with New Closer
For a five-year contract for one of the game’s best closers, Josh Hader’s agrement with the Houston Astros is surprisingly straightforward.
Per a report by the New York Post, Hader’s five-year, $95 million deal to bring him back to Houston, where he played as a minor leaguer, is worth $19 million per year with no deferred money.
In an offseason filled with contract deferrals and option years, Hader’s deal has none of those frills. Just a fully-guaranteed deal worth the same amount each season.
There are bonuses, of course. He can claim $1 million if he wins either the Mariano Rivera or Trevor Hoffman awards, given to the best reliever in the game. He can claim $100,000 if he is named a World Series MVP. If he is named the League Championship Series MVP, wins a Gold Glove or is named an All-Star he can net a $75,000 bonus.
He also has the option to purchase a suite at Minute Maid Park and a full no-trade clause.
To add Hader to their 40-man roster the Astros had to designated left-handed pitcher Matt Gage for assignment.
It might be the right price to pay for one of the game’s best closers, one that will provide a further backstop to a bullpen that is poised to lose three relievers in free agency and has lost another to a season-ending surgery.
Hader turned into a bullpen star in 2018, when he became an All-Star for the first time as he went 6-1 with a 2.43 ERA and racked up 12 saves.
Since then, Hader has gone to four more All-Star Games, including in 2023, and has gone 20-21 with a 2.50 ERA and 165 saves.
Hader was in the Astros’ organization from 2013-15. He was traded to Houston from the Baltimore Orioles in 2013. He exited to Milwaukee in 2015 as part of the deal that brought Carlos Gómez and Mike Fiers to Houston.
