12:40pm : Per a report from , the Tigers are also in the Pre sly talks but it may be unlikely for the righty to approve a trade to Detroit. 9:19am : The Astros have been shopping right-hander throughout the winter, but those efforts didnt gain much traction until recently. Thats understandable in the sense that the free-agent market for relievers was largely frozen until the past couple of weeks. Now, with free agent bullpen arms flying off the board, interest in Pre sly has seemingly picked up. The , and one yet-unknown club out west have all shown serious interest in Pre Jason Hursh Jersey sly over the past 24 hours. Pre sly, however, has full no-trade protection by virtue of his 10-and-5 rights (ten years of major league service, five-plus years with his current team). He can nix any trade to a location he doesnt want. Thats of extra note for Pre sly as a Texas native whos playing his home games a bit more than 200 miles south of Dallas, where he was born and raised. Jon Heyman of the New York Post this morning that Pre sly has informed the Astros that hes disinclined to approve a trade thatd send him too far east or west. That would seemingly rule out both the Jays and any club on or near the west coast. Its not yet clear which club out west is eyeing Pre sly, though the D-backs have been vocal about their desire to add a closer. The As, Giants and Angels arent nece sarily in the market for an experienced ninth-inning arm specifically, but all three could use another high-leverage arm in general. All of that could be moot, however, if Pre sly is wary of straying toward either coast and prefers to remain in Texas or somewhere in the countrys heartland. That could potentially bode well for the Cubs, though Heyman adds that Pre sly has not yet made a decision one way or another on whether hed approve a move to Wrigley Field. One swaying factor, speculatively speaking, could be that the Cubs would almost certainly use Pre sly as their closer. Thats a role he filled and filled quite well in Houston from 2020-23, when he saved 102 games and pitched to a 2.99 ERA with a huge 31.5% strikeout rate in 198 2/3 innings. He was bumped to a setup role in 2024 after the Astros signing of on a five-year, $95MM contract. Pre slys 2024 season was solid all around but not quite up to his (lofty) prior standards. He logged a 3.49 earned run average over 56 2/3 innings and posted a 23.8% strikeout rate that stood as his lowest mark since the 2016 season. His 7.4% walk rate was comfortably better than league average but was still his highest mark in four years. His average fastball sat at 93.8 mph, per Statcast, marking his lowest number in more than a decade. Still, the right-handers broader track record is excellent. And, with the Astros with , there could be extra motivation for Houston to shed some payroll. Its hard to envision any scenario where the Astros re-sign Bregman and also dip beneath the luxury tax threshold, but shedding Pre slys $14MM salary would le sen the sting of exceeding the tax line for what would be a second straight season. , Houston is currently about $3MM north of the $241MM threshold. Gio Urshela Jersey