Headlines

  • Red Sox Likely To Activate Alex Bregman Tomorrow
  • Astros To Promote Brice Matthews
  • Phillies Reportedly Targeting Controllable Relievers
  • Yankees Prioritizing Pitching, Also Searching For Infield Help
  • Orioles Trade Bryan Baker To Rays
  • Yankees Release DJ LeMahieu
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Astros, Steven Okert Agree To Minor League Deal

By Steve Adams | November 12, 2024 at 9:37pm CDT

The Astros have agreed to a minor league deal with left-handed reliever Steven Okert, per their transaction log at MLB.com. He’ll be in camp as a non-roster invitee in spring training and would earn $1.2MM upon making the roster, MLBTR has learned. The contract contains additional incentives and multiple opt-out dates for the veteran southpaw.

Okert, 33, spent the 2024 season with the Twins organization after they acquired him in an offseason swap sending utilityman Nick Gordon to the Marlins. He appeared in 44 games and pitched 35 1/3 innings with a 5.09 earned run average. Minnesota designated Okert for assignment over the summer and sent him outright to Triple-A. He became a minor league free agent at season’s end.

Despite the rough run-prevention numbers in ’24, Okert has a solid track record of missing bats. His strikeout rate dipped to 20.6% with the Twins, and it’s of note that he did lose about a mile per hour off both his four-seamer and slider. However, from 2021-23, Okert was a mainstay in the Marlins’ bullpen and pitched well, logging a 3.51 ERA in 146 frames while picking up plenty of punchouts. He fanned 28.9% of his opponents in that stretch, and while his 10.7% walk rate was a couple percentage points north of average, he generally avoided opponents’ barrels well enough to mitigate those free passes.

Okert still avoided hard contact nicely with the Twins — in fact posting career-low marks in average exit velocity and opponents’ hard hit rate. When opponents did barrel him up, however, it was too often for maximum damage. Okert’s 1.53 homers per nine frames were the highest of his career by a wide margin. That, paired with more balls in play due to the dip in strikeout rate, worked against the 6’2″ southpaw.

The Astros will try to restore some of the velo and whiffs that Okert lost in 2024. If they’re able to help him right the ship, they’ll be picking up a lefty reliever who pitched quite well from ’21-’23 at a low cost. Beyond closer Josh Hader, the ’Stros only have two other left-handed relievers on their 40-man roster: Bryan King, who has all of 26 1/3 MLB innings to his credit, and Bennett Sousa, who has 29 1/3 MLB frames and missed the 2024 season following thoracic outlet surgery. Adding some affordable lefty depth to the bullpen makes sense, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see another signing or two along these lines.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

Houston Astros Transactions Steven Okert

Giants Could Listen To Offers On LaMonte Wade Jr.
Main
Mariners, Justin Turner Have Discussed Reunion
View Comments (2)
Post a Comment

2 Comments

  1. UKPhil

    8 months ago

    Actually, for the Marlins, his 21 and 22 seasons were very good, but in ’23 he became inconsistent. I saw the trade for Gordon as disappointment for disappointment.

    Reply
  2. texgal01

    8 months ago

    Junk pitchers just because need a lefty. Astros have a reputation for thinking can rebuild someone. With our pitching and hitting staff and even lousy management all around.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

  • Top Stories
  • Recent

Red Sox Likely To Activate Alex Bregman Tomorrow

Astros To Promote Brice Matthews

Phillies Reportedly Targeting Controllable Relievers

Yankees Prioritizing Pitching, Also Searching For Infield Help

Orioles Trade Bryan Baker To Rays

Yankees Release DJ LeMahieu

Trevor Williams To Undergo UCL Surgery

Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez

Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff

Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

Bobby Jenks Passes Away

Braves Release Alex Verdugo

Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline

Rays Reinstate Ha-Seong Kim

Yankees Have Shown Interest In Ryan McMahon

Royals Interested In Bryan Reynolds

Rangers Option Josh Jung

Kevin Pillar Announces Retirement

Braves Place Spencer Schwellenbach On IL With Elbow Fracture

Giants Exercise 2026 Option On Manager Bob Melvin

Trade Deadline Outlook: New York Yankees

Trade Deadline Outlook: Atlanta Braves

Which Other Relievers Might The Orioles Shop?

Lee Elia Passes Away

Red Sox Likely To Activate Alex Bregman Tomorrow

Poll: Which Teams Should Make The Biggest Push For Jarren Duran?

MLB Finalizes Home Run Derby Field

Astros To Promote Brice Matthews

Giants Outright Sergio Alcántara

Joe Coleman Passes Away

MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

Latest Rumors & News

Latest Rumors & News

  • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
  • Luis Robert Rumors
  • Alex Bregman Rumors

 

Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

MLBTR Features

MLBTR Features

  • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
  • Front Office Originals
  • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
  • MLBTR Podcast
  • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
  • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
  • Contract Tracker
  • Transaction Tracker
  • Extension Tracker
  • Agency Database
  • MLBTR On Twitter
  • MLBTR On Facebook
  • Team Facebook Pages
  • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

Rumors By Team

  • Angels Rumors
  • Astros Rumors
  • Athletics Rumors
  • Blue Jays Rumors
  • Braves Rumors
  • Brewers Rumors
  • Cardinals Rumors
  • Cubs Rumors
  • Diamondbacks Rumors
  • Dodgers Rumors
  • Giants Rumors
  • Guardians Rumors
  • Mariners Rumors
  • Marlins Rumors
  • Mets Rumors
  • Nationals Rumors
  • Orioles Rumors
  • Padres Rumors
  • Phillies Rumors
  • Pirates Rumors
  • Rangers Rumors
  • Rays Rumors
  • Red Sox Rumors
  • Reds Rumors
  • Rockies Rumors
  • Royals Rumors
  • Tigers Rumors
  • Twins Rumors
  • White Sox Rumors
  • Yankees Rumors

Navigation

  • Sitemap
  • Archives
  • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

MLBTR INFO

  • Advertise
  • About
  • Commenting Policy
  • Privacy Policy

Connect

  • Contact Us
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • RSS Feed

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top

Register

Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version