HOUSTON — The Astros launched Jose Abreu on Friday, chopping ties with the previous American League MVP lower than midway by a three-year, $58.5 million contract.
Basic supervisor Dana Brown mentioned this was an especially tough resolution contemplating how a lot cash Abreu remains to be owed.
“It is all the time powerful when the deal does not work out, nevertheless it simply did not work out this time,” Brown mentioned.
The 37-year-old Abreu was batting .124 (14-for-113) with two homers and 7 RBIs this season, throughout which he hung out within the minors making an attempt to repair his swing. The Astros nonetheless owe him $30.8 million from the deal he signed earlier than final season.
Brown and supervisor Joe Espada met with Abreu on Friday afternoon to ship the information.
“I’ve nothing however good issues to say about him,” Brown mentioned. “I believed he was very sleek. He dealt with it nicely. He understands baseball, and he understands that he wasn’t producing and that he ran out of time.”
Espada raved about Abreu’s professionalism and mentioned releasing him was tough.
“Very powerful day,” Espada mentioned. “It was not a straightforward dialog. José Abreu has meant [a lot] to this group, serving to us get to a different championship collection final 12 months. And with what he is accomplished on this sport, it was not straightforward.”
A 3-time All-Star throughout his 9 years with the Chicago White Sox, Abreu was named MVP in the course of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. He was the AL Rookie of the Yr in 2014 after defecting from his native Cuba the earlier 12 months.
He agreed to be optioned to Houston’s minor league facility in West Palm Seaside, Florida, on April 30 in an try and get again on monitor on the plate. He spent a couple of month away from the large league workforce and performed seven video games within the minors, however the demotion did not translate to extra success when he returned to the majors Could 27.
“In the end when guys lose their timing, you search for them to go down and to regain their timing and to get on time with the baseball to have high quality at-bats and issues like that,” Brown mentioned. “And we simply did not see it. We did not see that there was a change within the at-bats, and we felt prefer it was most likely time to make a change.”
Abreu’s manufacturing dropped off considerably with the Astros. He batted .237 final 12 months, the bottom common of his profession, with 18 homers and 90 RBIs.
Abreu is a profession .283 hitter with 263 homers and 960 RBIs in 11 seasons.
Houston’s clubhouse was somber earlier than Friday’s 4-0 win over the Detroit Tigers. Mauricio Dubón mentioned Abreu was an necessary a part of the workforce regardless of his struggles this season.
“Watching him go, it isn’t good,” Dubón mentioned. “We’re a household right here, that is the factor. It is a intestine punch for the vibe within the clubhouse.”
Houston owes Abreu $30,822,504, together with $11,322,504 remaining from this 12 months’s wage and $19.5 million for 2025. Any workforce can signal him for a prorated share of the $740,000 main league minimal, with the Astros liable for the remainder.
The Astros will look to Jon Singleton to be their every-day first baseman for now, and Brown mentioned he hopes that Singleton will reap the benefits of the chance so they will not must go after a primary baseman earlier than the commerce deadline.
“In the end if he can step up now that he is getting some enjoying time … if he grabs the bull by the horns and he takes off, then we can’t have to handle that initially base,” Brown mentioned.
Singleton entered Friday hitting .213 with 5 dwelling runs and 14 RBIs in 50 video games this season.
“I really do not feel any completely different,” he mentioned. “I am nonetheless going to go on the market and attempt to the very best of my capacity to assist the workforce win ballgames. I am grateful for the chance.”