Houston Astros Star Has Reportedly Turned Down Trade to Blue Jays, Coastal Teams

The Houston Astros star reliever's trade market is growing as the Toronto Blue Jays and mystery team have now thrown their hat into the ring.

Aug 31, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros relief pitcher Ryan Pressly (55) reacts after the final out during the ninth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Minute Maid Park. | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

The trade market surrounding Houston Astros star reliever Ryan Pressly has continued to heat up, with more teams emerging as contenders to bring him in.

But some teams have also already been turned down.

The baseball world was thrown into a frenzy on Thursday when news broke the Astros and Chicago Cubs were reportedly on the verge of making deal for the veteran.

Pressly, however, has a no-trade clause, and has yet to waive it to make a move possible.

The day went by without a deal being made, but that wasn't the end of the story.

Adding to the confusion, Chandler Rome, Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney of The Athletic added that the Toronto Blue Jays and a mystery team from the West Coast have showed interest as well.

Jon Heyman of The New York Post then continued to make the situation more complex, saying that Pressly had already said no to the Blue Jays and that he is unlikely to go to either of the coasts.

Pressly is now a 36-year-old reliever who stumbled out of the gate last season, but has proven to still have plenty in the tank. It makes sense why multiple teams want him.

Even Houston might not be jumping to trade him if they weren't still trying to get under the luxury tax. Ridding themselves of his $14 million price tag would get the job done and then some.

He simply became expendable once the team gave Josh Hader a massive contract to become their new closer.

An important thing to remember throughout the trade talks is why it is so hard to get Pressly out of an Astros uniform.

He is from Dallas and his wife, Kat, is from Houston. Their son has been born and raised in the city.

It is unlikely they will jump at the opportunity to go elsewhere. That has already been made clear by the fact that he has yet to waive his no-trade clause with a deal potentially in place to have them move to Chicago.

Seeing as though he reportedly does not want to travel to one of the coasts and said flat out "no" to Canada, his options are exceedingly limited.

Many thought that a return to a full-time closing role might be enough to entice him, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

While he did struggle in the first few months of being the setup man for Hader, he certainly settled into it.

Over his final 32 appearances for Houston, he posted an impressive 1.99 ERA. That is better than any number he posted for a season in his career.

While it is a small sample size, it shows he was on the right track.