Brian McTaggart on The Night Cap: Josh Hader Is Here To Be The Closer

MLB.com's Brian McTaggart joins The Night Cap, after the Astros agreed to a five year deal with Josh Hader. He talks about roles Hader and Ryan Pressly will serve in the Astros bullpen this season. He also talks about what could be next for the Astros in terms of moves, as they are even closer to the start of Spring Training.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
All right, welcome into the nightcaphere on Sports Talk seven ninety ros veril
with you until seven a clock.A lot of stuff to get to,
but no time for the regular introductionsand laying out of the show. We
got to get right to it.Brian McTaggart of MLB dot Com Astros dot
Com right off the rip here becauseof the big news with the Houston Astros

(00:22):
and the signing of Josh Hater toa five year, ninety five million dollar
deal. Brian, of course wehad heard the reports that the Astros were
interested and trying to get something donewith Josh Hater. What was your reaction
when you saw that it was adone deal? Josh Hater now back in
the Astros organization this time, ofcourse as a five time All Star.

(00:45):
I was stunned. I mean Isaw the report yesterday that they were interested.
I mean I was a little surprisedby that. I mean, I
knew they were trying to upgrade thebullpen that they had made, you know,
Narros coming back at priority. Hewas asking for a lot of money,
but to go and get you know, pretty much the top free agent
believer on the market, and themoney they're paying him I just didn't think

(01:06):
they would do that, But hada chance to visit with Jim Craneer earlier
day and he says this move wasmade to win. They want to win,
and their bullpen was their biggest need. And their bullpen got a lot
better with the addition of Hater.I mean, who's just got the nastiest
stuff in the league. All starcloser, a lefty, a guy that

(01:27):
you know is going to come inand dominate and get sons of strikeouts.
So he does walk a few guyshere and there, but no matter how
you look at it, their bullpengot a lot better today. And that
was their biggest weakness in the cominginto the offseason. Yeah, and that's
something, of course we've been talkingabout. You mentioned Hector Naries and philm
Maton, Ryan Stanek. How areyou going to replace those guys? How

(01:48):
much do you think this was alsoaffected by the Kendall Graveman news that he's
gone down with that shoulder surgery andhe's going to miss the entirety of the
twenty twenty four campaign. Do youthink that's what kind of the straw that
broke the camel's back to get thingsmoving in this direction for the Astros.
Yeah, it might have because Imean they were already finn in the bullpen.
I mean, those those three freeagent guys you mentioned they had they

(02:09):
had pitched one hundred and eighty fiveinnings last year, which was the third
of the innings of the bullpen.So you don't bring them back. I
mean, that's the thirty er inningsyou have to replace. Now you get
gravemen. I mean, he onlypitched the last couple of months, but
that's for your key bullpen arms arenow gone. You had to do something.
And you know, instead of addinga guy or two, they went
out and got the best guy.And you know what this does probably is

(02:30):
push everyone down a little bit.Now you have Presley in a setup role
and you have you know, abray You also in a setup role.
So it was no doubt they weregoing to have to add to the bullpen.
I thought they were going to trade. I mean, the prices were
so high. I saw a reportin Rris was asked for fifty million over
three years. I was like,they're gonna have to probably make a deal.

(02:53):
But to make to get a freeagent deal, they do lose a
draft pick, but you know,money's money. They're exposing themselves a little
bit with injury. But you know, he's twenty nine years old, he's
really been healthy in his career,and you know he's he's a plug and
play guy that makes you better.Yeah, and so with that on the
field, it kind of doesn't matterto me in a way as far as
Brett, you, Presley, Hater, whatever order you put him in,

(03:15):
but it can matter to these guys. And Josh Hater has shown a preference
for just getting three outs being thecloser. We know Ryan Presley likes being
the closer as well. How doyou think Joe asbottit navigates this or do
we just use only strictly going onmatchups? How do you think it kind
of plays out at the end ofgames. I don't think Hater's going to
be their closer. I mean,I don't think they're spending ninety five million

(03:38):
on a setup match. I mean, you're right, it doesn't matter at
the end of the day. Imean, you've got three guys who can
get you nine outs on most night. But I mean we know how this
works. I mean they're gonna,you know, have to designate somebody's closer.
I think it's going to be hater. I mean, he's got the
resume, he's got the contract.Ryan Presley has done a really good job
as closer for this team, andyeah, I'm sure he wants to remain

(03:58):
closer, but he's also you know, he's made his money, he's he's
a professional, and he wants towin. And I think he'll take the
ball wherever Joe Spot is going togive him the ball. Does he want
to be closer? I think sure, But you know, I just think
that you know, they're bringing haterin here to close games. That's what
you know, That's what they're payingon the money for. That's what He's

(04:19):
made his mark in the big leaguesnow for a long time, and he's
piled up a lot of saves andhe's going to hit a lot more opportunities.
But they can now bridge it fromthe sixth inning to the ninth inning
as well as anybody in baseball.Brian McTaggart MLB dot com, of course,
covering the Astros here on Sports Talkseven ninety do you think this is

(04:40):
about the last we'll see? Imean, you mentioned it was one hundred
and eighty plus innings, so yougot about a sixty ish of them covered.
You do the Astros go anywhere elseor do they they continue to go
with the internal options that they're they'vebeen looking at and been talking about this
offseason. Yeah, I don't seethem necessarily making another big move in the
bul I mean, it's always thecase, and we've seen it so many

(05:01):
times in the last few years.They get to the All Star break and
you're short on the bullpen and theycan go get somebody, but they have
a lot of internal options they cansit through. I mean, they traded
for Dylan Coleman for the Royals,who wasn't very good last year, but
he's a guy that has some peripherals. You think that maybe they can get
him on track, and they've gota good track record of that kind of
stuff. They bucked a couple ofguys off waivers as well, who are

(05:24):
going to be in the mix,and then you're looking at, you know,
can can Montero turn it around alittle bit? I talked to Forrest
Whitley today, and you know,he's excited about being in the bullpen now.
And you know, you have theSeth Martinez. Seth Martinez is and
Blax and you know Mushinski. Youhad a lot of guys who are competing
now for maybe two or three jobsin the bulletin. Before today it was

(05:46):
probably three or four jobs. Socompetition has just got a little bit tougher.
But uh, they're gonna have alot to choose from. And you
know, if they get to Julyand they need an arm, you can
always go get a bullpen arm withoutit costing you, you know a time,
as we've seen in the last fewyears, you know, trading away,
getting getting maton, getting grave ina couple of times. So wouldn't
surprise me if they had an arm. But I just I think they're probably

(06:08):
done at this point because they're prettywell over the CBT. But you know,
Jim Crane's not afraid to spend moremoney if if something pops up.
Yeah, speaking of the CBT,of course, one of the reasons we're
surprised at this move. And alsowhat do you think the long term ramifications
are for this? Of course,Kyle Tucker and Farmer Valdez being some guys
that we've been talking about possibly gettingextensions. Alex Bregman also on a contract

(06:31):
year, and then Jose Altuve aswell. What do you think this has
any impact, if any, onthe possible signings of keeping those guys in
long term extensions. I don't thinkso. I mean, I think I
think they're going to get with themarket. Uh with the market's going to
give him regardless, I'm breaking downfor you. I'll be shocked if Altu
they plays on another on another team. I mean, he's I don't think

(06:56):
Jim Crane's gonna let that happen.I think they re signed him. Bregman.
I think it would not surprise meif he's gone after this year.
I just think he's going to wantmore money than I think Crane's going to
be willing to spend. I mean, and and good for him. I
mean, he should go out thereand get it. But just look at
the history of the contracts that Crane'sgiven out. I mean, Bregan's going
to want two hundred and fifty million. I just go see the Astros doing

(07:16):
that. Tucker's a couple of yearsaway. I just don't think he's motivated
much to re sign with the Astros, honestly. I mean, he hasn't
said that. I just get thefeeling that it's just not a priority for
him, and I probably wouldn't signFromber to a long deal if I were
the Astros. I mean, wesaw what happened second half last year.
He crated a bit and in theplayoffs. I mean, there's too many
unknowns there with him. But Astrosare making this move to win this year.

(07:41):
I mean, and they'll they'll dealwith next year next year and then
you know, the contracts down theroad. They think the claub is good
enough this year to win another WorldSeries. And I think at the end
of the day, that's all they'reworried about when they signed Hater. Yeah,
and that's just leads me to alsowhat I want to talk about.
You where do you have this nowwith with Josh Hater and the fold for
the Astros. As far as amongtheir peers, we know, of course

(08:03):
the Yankees making some moves. TheRangers are the World Series champs reigning,
Uh, the Orioles up and comingas well. How do you feel like
where you put the the Astros andhow you measure them against their American League
peers? Yeah, well, Imean Rangers are defending champs. You got
you know, you got to gothrough them, I think, Uh,

(08:24):
I mean, look, Yankees gota lot better. I mean, they
added some pitching, they got LonSotouh. They're you know, unless they
just shoot themselves in the foot again. I mean, I think they're going
to be the best team in theAl East. The Oriels aren't going anywhere,
so I mean, no one inthe no one in the Central really,
you know, scares me. SoI think it's probably those two teams
in the West, those two teamsin the East that I think are are

(08:46):
the best four teams. A lot'sgoing to go into an injuries performance.
You saw, you know, thelast couple of years, teams with massive
payrolls it didn't work out Padres andin the Mets, and you know,
Yankees have had their issues. ButI think the Astros are is poised as
well as anybody I think to winanother World Series this year. And you
know it's going to come down tohealth and have some guys bounce back.

(09:07):
But you know, it wouldn't surpriseme if they win the American League and
win another World Series. All right, So you mentioned Brian mctagger with us
here on MLB dot com. Thebiggest weakness was the bullpen. How are
you feeling now? Where where doyou think the weak spot is on this
team. And I guess I'll justalso turn it to if you were going
to go in that direction, thestarting rotation, and not necessarily. I

(09:28):
mean, they got a lot ofguys, but you know you're going to
be waiting on a couple of themLands with colors Junior Luis Garcia specifically as
well. Yeah, and an idealword, you go world, you go
and get a less handed hitting outfielder, you get another starter. I mean,
it's just you know, their payrollsalready, you know, burst them
here a little bit. It's justnot going to happen. So you know,
what's their weakness right now? Idon't know if they have a massive

(09:50):
weakness. You know, maybe youcould add another reliever. They do have,
you know, six seven starting options, which is probably a lot deeper
than most teams. You know,you don't know what you're gonna get or
when you're gonna get mccullors and Garciaback. But for me, it's gonna
boil down to Javier Valdez. Whatare you going to get from then?
If they bounce back and have seasonslike they did in twenty two, then

(10:13):
and Verlander as well, and thenI mean you're I think you're in fantastic
shape with those three guys, andthen you know you can fill it with
their kidie and Hunter Brown after that. I mean, I think you feel
really good about that rotation. There'sno World Baseball Classic this year. You
know they've they've got a year nowto adjust to the clock, that pitch
timer. I think all those thingsprobably contributed to Valdez especially, and maybe

(10:35):
Javier having a step back. ButI just don't see them like go out
and get the smell or anything likethat. I just don't think it'll be
in the budget. I think Ithink even good enough to win. It's
just gonna come down to who performsand who takes advantage of the opportunity.
All Right, there you go.Brian McTaggert MLB dot com. Find them
on Twitter at Brian McTaggart. Alsohas some good stuff with quotes from Jim

(10:56):
Crane and as you mentioned, ForrestWhitley as well. You can find it
all on Astro's Brian, thanks forthe time as always, and we'll talk
to you down the road and enjoyyour movie. All right, Roch,
thanks for having me all right,Time for a quick break here on the
Nightcap when we come back. Moreon the Astros, of course, Texans
and Ravens NFL. A lot ofstuff going on, and we're gonna keep
talking about it until seven o'clock hereon the Nightcap on Sports Talk seven ninety