The 37-year-old Abreu has struggled at the plate in his eleventh MLB season.
The Houston Astros have released José Abreu, their struggling veteran first baseman, the team said on Friday. The move comes despite the fact that Abreu is owed the remaining portion of his $19.5 million pay for this season, as well as $19.5 million for the 2025 season.
Abreu, 37, was unable to maintain a respectable level of output both before and after his late-April relegation to the rookie-level Florida Complex League. Abreu batted.099/.156/.113 for Houston in the first 22 games of the season, prompting the unusual transfer. “I was wrong on my swing,” Abreu said of the troubles that led to his demotion to Florida. “The games have sped up on you so fast that it can be difficult to see where you are. I saw movies and everything, but I didn’t see it. But now, [hitting coach Alex Cintrón], [retired outfielder Michael] Brantley, [advisor and Hall of Famer Jeff] Bagwell, and Rene [Rojas, assistant hitting coordinator], we have a good group that we found. I hope to show it straight quickly, but baseball is a process. Hopefully, I can make it there.”
Despite returning to Houston about a month later, Abreu was still unable to author the necessary revisions. In the 13 games since his return to the active roster, he has hit just.167/.186/.333 with two home runs. It appears that general manager Dana Brown and the other Astros decision-makers had had enough.
If Abreu’s MLB career ends here, he’ll have a career slash line of.283/.345/.488 (128 OPS+) with 263 home runs in parts of 11 seasons. In 2020, Abreu was named American League MVP while playing for the White Sox, the team that brought him out of Cuba previous to the 2014 season.
With Abreu’s stint in Houston coming to an end, Jon Singleton will likely continue to be the Astros’ primary first baseman. The underperforming Astros, who have lost three of their previous four games, are 31-38 heading into Friday night’s series opening against the Tigers.
