Astros Morning Snippets: Oh, look, contract extensions for Alex Bregman and Ryan Pressly!

CLEVELAND, OH - OCTOBER 08: Alex Bregman #2 of the Houston Astros celebrates with teammates in the dugout after scoring a run in the eighth inning against the Cleveland Indians during Game Three of the American League Division Series at Progressive Field on October 8, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - OCTOBER 08: Alex Bregman #2 of the Houston Astros celebrates with teammates in the dugout after scoring a run in the eighth inning against the Cleveland Indians during Game Three of the American League Division Series at Progressive Field on October 8, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

The latest news around the Astros on March 20th, including information about the latest contract extensions for Alex Bregman and Ryan Pressly.

Alex Bregman and Ryan Pressly agree to contract extensions

The Astros made some news in a big way late Tuesday with two of their players agreeing to contract extensions: Alex Bregman and Ryan Pressly.

Bregman’s extension, as noted here by Brian McTaggart of MLB.com, is for five years, $100 million. The Astros essentially bought out his three arbitration years (2020-22) and what would’ve been two years of free agency starting in 2023. Also noted here by McTaggart, Bregman’s extension is believed to second-highest pre-arbitration contract handed out to a player, only trailing Mike Trout‘s six-year, $144 million contract back in 2014.

For Pressly, it is noted here by Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle to be the highest contract ($17.5 million over two years) for any “non-closer reliever”. The two-year extension means that Pressly will not enter free agency next offseason, which he was scheduled to do. It also includes a vesting option for the 2022 season.

Overall, it was a good set of contract extensions for the Astros. Check out what CTH thinks about the deals and more specifics here and other there.

The battle for the fifth starter role is coming to a close

As the regular season rapidly approaches, the Astros are still determining who will be fifth starter in the rotation. Although the early season off-days means that the club could skip that spot in the rotation once or twice, it is still beneficial to name someone to the role. As noted here by Brian McTaggart of MLB.com, manager A.J. Hinch is looking at Saturday to make his decision between Brad Peacock and Framber Valdez. Both are scheduled to pitch in Friday’s game against the Mets, I presume.

FanGraphs and Pitch Framing

I won’t pretend to know everything about baseball, and how to reasonably explain pitch framing is one of those things. However, FanGraphs has rolled out pitch framing data into their WAR calculations, which is exciting news to a baseball geek like me. Check out the link here to explore more for yourself. Trust their words on the matter.

Schedule