November 28th, 2022. That was the day that the one of the most questionable moves for the Astros roster was made in franchise history, signing 2020 American League MVP Jose Abreu to a three-year $58.5 million deal. Midway through what is his age 36 season, are Abreu’s better days behind him? Here’s a look.
Jose Abreu is currently hitting .232/.283/.326 midway through his first season with the Houston Astros roster with five homers and 36 runs batted in, which is lower than he’d like. Abreu’s production has left many Astros’ fans scratching their heads wondering what the Astros’ front office saw in Abreu to give him the deal they did.
Abreu has been good in the past, winning the 2020 AL MVP as well as 2014 AL Rookie of the year, three-time Silver Slugger, and three-time all-star. Abreu has been an RBI machine during his nine-year tenure with the Chicago White Sox, with 60 being his career low (during the COVID shortened 2020 season).
Maybe Father time has finally caught up with Abreu, or maybe he’s having a difficult time adjusting to his new home on the Astros roster. Abreu snapped his homerless streak that extended way back to last August when he hit his first home run of the season during a game against the Oakland Athletics.
Abreu is currently signed to a three-year contract, so its’ unlikely that the Astros would trade or DFA him, but head coach Dusty Baker needs to do something about his lack of production. Houston has guys that can play first base to give Abreu some rest, but Baker sticks to his strategy of continuously playing struggling players in hopes that they’ll break out of their funk.
The good news for Houston fans is that Abreu’s deal is three years, meaning that their is still time for him to come around, but how much longer will Houston wait?
