Source: Hader, Astros reach 5-year, $95M deal
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Alden Gonzalez, ESPN Staff Writer
All-Star closer Josh Hader agreed to terms on a five-year, $95 million contract with the Houston Astros on Friday, significantly bolstering a team that has made seven consecutive appearances in the American League Championship Series, a source told ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
The deal doesn’t include any deferrals, making it the largest ever for a relief pitcher in terms of present-day value. Edwin Diaz signed a five-year, $102 million deal with the New York Mets last offseason, but $26.5 million of it was deferred, giving it a present-day value in the neighborhood of $93 million.
The Astros’ pickup of Hader comes on the heels of news that Kendall Graveman, one of the team’s principal high-leverage relievers, would miss the entire 2024 season after undergoing shoulder surgery. Hader’s presence in all likelihood means Ryan Pressly, who accumulated 90 saves over the last three years, will become the team’s eighth-inning reliever, though Hader displayed versatility to handle various assignments early in his career.
Regardless of how it shakes out, the Astros, who return the vast majority of the group that fell one win shy of the World Series last fall, will once again feature a devastating back end of the bullpen, with Bryan Abreu and Rafael Montero also in the mix. Houston’s Hader signing has the dual effect of eliminating him as an option for its division rivals. The Texas Rangers, who defeated the Astros in a hotly contested ALCS while on their way to their first championship last year, had been rumored to be in the mix for Hader all offseason.
A member of the Astros’ minor league system from 2013 to 2015, Hader made an All-Star team in each of his five full seasons in the major leagues and has established himself as arguably the game’s best closer. His 153 saves since the start of 2019 lead the majors. His 437 strikeouts in that five-year stretch are 59 more than the next-closest reliever.
The 29-year-old left-hander has done that while fashioning a 2.60 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP. His devastating sinker-slider combination, thrown from a wiry frame that helps to maximize his deception, has netted him a career 15.0 strikeout-per-nine rate, the highest in history among those who accumulated at least 50 innings.
Hader anchored bullpens for Milwaukee Brewers teams that consistently overachieved before joining the San Diego Padres as part of a midseason trade in the summer of 2022. The deal saw the Brewers acquire Esteury Ruiz, who was later used as part of another trade to land standout catcher William Contreras, but parting with Hader while in the midst of another playoff run became a controversial subject within the Brewers’ clubhouse. Hader helped the Padres reach the National League Championship Series later that fall, then had another standout season for a star-laden Padres team that grossly underachieved in 2023, posting a 1.28 ERA with 33 saves and 85 strikeouts in 56 1/3 innings.
Hader distinguished himself early on, not just for his electric stuff but also for his ability to pitch multiple innings late in games. In recent years, however, that hasn’t been the case; Hader has recorded more than three outs in a regular-season outing only once since 2019 and has generally been reluctant to do so, pointing to the danger of pitchers overextending themselves amid a long season. It’s unclear how securing his first major contract might impact his thinking.
Hader’s deal comes with full no-trade protection and doesn’t include any opt-outs or options, a source familiar with the contract told Passan. He will be paid $19 million annually and can collect an extra $1 million for winning the Reliever of the Year Award, which he previously claimed in 2018, 2019 and 2021.
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Adam Rittenberg
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Oklahoma players and coaches gathered in different spots around Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium, posing for pictures and savoring every second of the team’s best win as an SEC member and its best under fourth-year coach Brent Venables.
When the 11th-ranked Sooners finally retreated to their locker room, their victory playlist began with “Dixieland Delight,” Alabama’s cherished late-game anthem, and then, of course, “Sweet Home Alabama.” Written off in most College Football Playoff projections after its home loss to Ole Miss on Oct. 25, Oklahoma responded with consecutive road wins against Tennessee and Saturday at No. 4 Alabama, holding off the Tide 23-21.
The Sooners recorded their first road win against a top-five opponent since their victory over Ohio State in 2017, featuring another famous postgame celebration with quarterback Baker Mayfield’s flag-plant at Ohio Stadium. OU ended Alabama’s 17-game home winning streak and became the first team to beat the Tide in consecutive seasons since Ole Miss in 2014 and 2015. The Sooners also registered their fourth win against an AP-ranked opponent this season, tying Alabama for the most in the FBS.
“I’m not a boastful or braggadocious kind of guy, but, man, I’m going to brag on our guys, and they deserve it,” Venables said. “They put a lot into this opportunity, and we’ve created vision for that, so I got to follow through. I’m like, ‘Hey, man, this is what victory looks like. This is how we’re going to do it. And I want to see you guys dancing, carrying on, just having some joy in the moment.'”
Oklahoma won despite generating only 212 yards of offense, its fewest since 2022 and OU’s fewest in a win since 2001 against No. 5 Texas. The Sooners rode their defense, which forced three Alabama turnovers, half of the Tide’s season total entering Saturday, and scored on Eli Bowen‘s 87-yard interception return in the first quarter.
The defense needed one final stop as Alabama took possession with 7:14 play, needing only a field goal to win. Even after “Dixieland Delight” sent the crowd into a frenzy and Alabama converted a key fourth down, an Oklahoma defense playing without top pass rusher R Mason Thomas and others clamped down on the Tide, who were held scoreless for the final 22:27.
“It was all red, and the lights were on, but we fed off the energy,” Oklahoma defensive lineman Taylor Wein, who had a strip-sack fumble and two quarterback hurries, said of hearing “Dixieland Delight” in the closing minutes. “Little do they know, they think that they’re feeling their team, they’re feeling us, they’re getting us ready to go.”
Wein was one of many Oklahoma players wearing a T-shirt that read “Hard to Kill” on the front and “Enough is Enough” on the back after the game. The Sooners stressed those themes after the loss to Ole Miss, recognizing that a third defeat would probably end their CFP hopes.
“How much is enough?” said kicker Tate Sandell, who went 3-for-3 on field goal attempts, including a 52-yarder. “It’s just having that mindset of staying alive, blue collar, roll your sleeves up and just find a way, and being hard to kill in the process.”
Venables thought the Sooners could “separate ourselves” on special teams, and they delivered, not only with Sandell’s field goals but forcing a Ryan Williams fumble on an Alabama punt return and partially blocking a Conor Talty field goal attempt at the end of the first half to preserve a 17-14 lead. The Sooners had 10 points off turnovers and overcame the massive yards differential by limiting major mistakes and doing the little things to win.
“Who’s it not pretty for? What does that mean?” a smiling Venables asked. “I happen to like it.”
Oklahoma had a more dominant defensive effort last year against Alabama, keeping the Tide out of the end zone. But the 2024 Sooners lost their final two games to finish 6-7 and raised questions about the trajectory under Venables, a first-time head coach.
But this season’s OU team has responded to both of its losses and key injuries, including to quarterback John Mateer, to be in position for a return to the CFP.
“They haven’t flinched,” Venables said. “When the fire is raging and things are looking a little desolate, they have responded several times this year, and they certainly have the last couple of weeks, when it mattered the most. They put respect on our brand again this week.”
Oklahoma must refocus for home games against Missouri and LSU, but the magnitude of Saturday’s win will resonate.
“The pictures after the game, you love the moments, the memories you create,” defensive tackle David Stone said. “We’ll have that for a lifetime.”
Wisconsin will start true freshman quarterback Carter Smith at No. 2 Indiana on Saturday, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel, replacing Danny O’Neil after the sophomore was carted off the field with a right leg injury last week.
O’Neil was injured on a 21-yard keeper during the first quarter of last Saturday’s 13-10 win over then-No. 23 Washington. He had a towel over his head as he was carted to the locker room.
Smith made his season debut following O’Neil’s injury, completing 3 of 12 passes for 8 yards while rushing for 47 yards and a touchdown.
Also available to the Badgers at quarterback is senior Hunter Simmons, who is 48-for-95 for 485 yards with two touchdowns and five interceptions this season.
For Indiana, wide receiver Elijah Sarratt is doubtful to play, sources said. Sarratt, who is tied for the Big Ten lead with 10 touchdown receptions, injured his hamstring against Maryland on Nov. 1 and missed the Penn State game last week.
With Indiana having a bye next week, Sarratt is on track to return against Purdue on Nov. 28.
Quarterback issues have hindered Wisconsin all season and throughout coach Luke Fickell’s three-year tenure.
Billy Edwards Jr. was Wisconsin’s first-team quarterback at the start of the season, but he sprained his knee in the second quarter of the Badgers’ opener and has played only one full series since.
Tanner Mordecai missed 3½ games with a broken hand in 2023. Miami transfer Tyler Van Dyke tore his ACL in the third game of the 2024 season.
Wisconsin’s intended season-opening starting quarterback has been available for the entirety of only 11 of the 34 games the Badgers have played since the beginning of the 2023 season. The last time Fickell had his season-opening starting quarterback healthy for a full game was in a 27-13 victory over South Dakota on Sept. 7, 2024.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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