The Struggling Astros Eat $30M And Cut Ties With Former AL MVP Jose Abreu

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The fall off of Jose Abreu is something I never saw coming. Well, at least not like this. When Abreu came over to the Astros from the White Sox it was seen as another way for the Astros to maintain their longevity. I think the entire American League let out a collected "fuck" when that news broke. A year and a half later we've somehow reached this point. 

The Astros find themselves eight games back of the first place Mariners and are shaking things up by releasing the former AL MVP. Abreu's deal has another year and a half left on it, totaling $30M. Abreu's 2023 was not up to his standards, but the hope was with a full offseason with the club could get things going in the right direction. 

Yeah not the case. 

Through 35 games this year, his slash line was hideous: .124/.167/.195 which was good for an OPS of .361! His OPS+ was 4, meaning he was 96% worse than the average hitter. Earlier in the year with his blessing, they sent him down to minors to see if that could wake him up. Eventually they reached a point where it was time to cut ties. 

Few takeaways. Jim Crane sucks at managing a roster. Between this and the $183M he used to build his failed super bullpen, I'm not sure he should be the one calling the shots. Dumping James Click after winning the World Series never made any sense to me. I feel like Crane went on a power trip after that and thought he could handle the job. As an Astros hater, I hope he never gives it up. 

Abreu's falloff makes the 2019 and 2020 seasons all the more fake. For Christ's sake he had a .987 OPS in 2020 the year he won the MVP. Old age definitely played a factor in his decline, but the juiced balls those years really gave us some wonky numbers. Obviously he's always been a good hitter, but never to the level he was then. 

Not to bring the Yankees up in everything I write about, but they're going to have a similar decision to make in about a month regarding Anthony Rizzo. The Yankees first baseman hasn't struggled to the degree of Abreu, but he's noticeably not the same guy and one of the weaker links in the lineup. Offensively and defensively he looks a step or two slower. For the first time in about five years, the Yankees actually feel like the Yankees again. Cashman will have two areas of concern to improve on: swing and miss from the bullpen and a corner infielder. If Rizzo doesn't magically turn things around that could lead to a very tough conversation. That dude is beloved in the clubhouse, especially by Judge, but we're talking about the World Series here. They're not going to pick up his option next year so we're going to be talking about an $8.5M decision. Baseball, like any other sport, is a business, and you can't have your first baseman posting a sub .700 OPS while contending for a World Series. 

Back to the Astros. I keep thinking they're gonna flip a switch and turn it on, but currently they're 6 back of the 3rd WC spot and 8 of the division, all while dealing with a bunch of pitching injuries and struggling players. There's still time, but they gotta figure their shit out. I wonder if things get worse in the next month if they try and flip Bregman at the deadline, considering they've pretty much spelled out they're not gonna pay him in the offseason.