HOUSTON – The Astros will select first baseman Jose Abreu from their spring training facility in West Palm Beach on Wednesday, general manager Dana Brown announced Tuesday, extending the impressive three-season losing streak. All star And former American League MVP winner.
The 37-year-old is in the second year of a three-year, $58.5 million contract that makes it almost impossible for the Astros to cut ties with him early in the offseason. In his first 71 at-bats, he recorded just seven hits, striking out 18 times And Can no longer be used as a daily player.
After Brown had what he described as a “great” conversation with members of the Astros’ coaching staff and front office, both sides agreed to the decision. Because he has more than five years of major league service with him, he must give his consent before being selected.
“Jose is a great guy to work with. He’s unselfish and he’s teammates and he wants to get himself back to what he was doing last fall,” Brown said. “in between Through this conversation, you can see that this person is passionate and committed to giving back to help this team. He was selflessly on board and was in agreement to return to West Palm Beach.
Brown did not provide a timetable for Abreu’s return to the mainstream. Leagues But he understood it would be an extended stay. Brown said he may fly to Florida with senior adviser Jeff Bagwell and farm director Jacob Buffa to monitor Abreu’s progress.
“offended. He was wearing it,” Brown said. “If you’ve been around these athletes for years, you can tell when they’re upset. Take it home with you. Sometimes they think they won’t take it home, but they take it home. It reached a point of frustration. Doing so is rare, but it speaks volumes about commitment and determination. I don’t think we see this as a long term or he sees this as a long term. I think it’s like, ‘Let’s go down, make some adjustments, get the rhythm and timing back.’
He did not report to Minute Maid Park on Tuesday and was therefore unavailable for comment. The move wasn’t announced until Wednesday, so Houston couldn’t make the same move and had Tuesday’s series opener. One player short on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
In an ESPN story published Tuesday morning, Abreu said in Spanish that he’s been “proud” of the good production he’s been producing since arriving in Houston. The contract he signed last summer was the largest during Jim Crane’s tenure at the time.
In 163 games Since, Along with it, he slashed .221/.280/.352 and, according to Baseball-Reference , cost a negative-1.4 in wins above replacement. His return last September gave Abreu at least some hope that he can make a similar difference this season.
Already 10 games behind .500 and 6 ½ games back in the American League West, the Astros can’t wait any longer. They entered Tuesday’s game against the Rangers. The fact that he was more prone to defensive mistakes made the Astros’ decision easier.
“It’s tough to see a veteran player go through this,” Brown said. “When you see him go through this and you know we’ve got to fix this guy, it’s hard to fix him at the major league level. We can do a lot of different things at the minor league level.
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(Photo: Daniel Shire / MLB Photos via Getty Images)