Bryan Abreu candid contract talk hits reality Astros fans know well

The Houston Astros have a silver lining to Josh Hader's continued injury woes. They're fortunate to be able to elevate one of the best setup men in the game, Bryan Abreu, to fill in for the superstar closer for as long as necessary for him to heal up.

It's an opportunity that Abreu relishes. Per Chandler Rome of The Athletic, in speaking about the opportunity to close games in Hader's absence, Abreu said, "The opportunity is always out there. That’s a huge step for any reliever. Everything is a step moving forward through innings, and then the top, you want to be closing games and get as many saves as you can.”

But Abreu isn't thinking about this from a selfish perspective. Regarded as a beloved teammate, he's thinking about this from the perspective of being able to step up and help his teammates compete. In doing so, he stands to greatly increase his earning potential this winter.

That's a problem for the Astros. They'll be the first to tell you how valuable he's been to their bullpen over the years. But if he shows out as a closer, which is a pretty sure bet, he'll put himself in a position to get paid a whole lot more when he hits free agency at season's end.

Bryan Abreu filling in for Josh Hader as the Astros' closer all but guarantees his offseason exit

Despite the analytics revolution taking hold of the baseball world, saves are still what get relievers paid. Abreu has been one of the best in the game, even without the closer title. Over the last four seasons, he ranks ninth among all relievers in ERA with a 2.30 mark. His 34.3% strikeout rate ranks 10th. In that span, only Tyler Rogers has thrown more innings than the 281 2/3 that Abreu has hurled.

Rome put together a few contract comps for a setup man hitting free agency with very limited closing experience. Jeff Hoffman and Robert Stephenson represented the low end of the comparisons at three years, $33 million. Rogers was the high-water mark at three years for $37 million.

Rogers is the only one whose production truly compares to Abreu, but the two are vastly different pitchers. It should be no surprise if Abreu far eclipses those figures, especially if he is holding the closer job for an extended period of time.

There are still three years left on Hader's record-setting five-year, $95 million contract. Even if Houston wasn't bogged down by bloated contracts for aging veterans, it would be tough to justify paying two relievers exorbitant sums. Few teams in the league could actually pull that off.

With that, you can chalk this up to the Astros' missteps causing another player in their prime to walk away in free agency. Abreu is entering his age-29 season, and he still has a bright future ahead. It won't be in Houston, though. If he wasn't going to be expensive enough before, this opportunity will confirm that he'll be out of the Astros price range.