The Houston Astros were dealt a fairly heavy blow this offseason when three of their star relievers, who have been part of their elite bullpen the past few years, departed in free agency.

After they had great tenures as part of the Astros’ relief unit, the market value increased for all three and seemingly made them unattainable for the front office to retain.

That looks to be confirmed by the reports they don’t have interest as of now in reuniting with one of their relievers.

However, with Kendall Graveman expected to miss the entire 2024 season, maybe Houston will be forced to change their tune on that approach.

But, because of the elite stuff these pitchers have shown, they are targets by other teams and could get scooped off the market with offers the Astros won’t be able to match.

That might be the case for Ryne Stanek who was linked to the Chicago Cubs by Bruce Levine of 670 the Score.

The insider spoke with Brett Taylor of Bleacher Nation about which relievers the Cubs could be targeting this offseason.

“Levine listed three righty relievers to ‘keep an eye on’ for the Cubs: Robert Stephenson (whom we’ve heard about before and who would be an awesome, expensive signing), Ryne Stanek, and Adam Ottavino,” Taylor wrote.

Stanek would be a great addition for Chicago, who is looking to upgrade their relief unit.

The right-hander had the best stretch of his career with Houston, posting a 2.90 ERA and 142 ERA+ across 186 appearances and 172 2/3 innings pitched during his three years. His career strikeout per nine inning ratio of 10.5 makes him a weapon coming out of the bullpen.

Despite struggling a bit with the Astros in 2023 compared to what he showed in the past, Stanek is a solid relief option whose market is reportedly starting to heat up.