This is one of those things that is simultaneously surprising and yet not really surprising. The 37 year old had been with the Chicago White Sox from the time he came over from Cuba in 2014 until signing with the Houston Astros for the 2023 season. He received a 3 year, $58.5 million contract from owner Jim Crane when Crane was in full Jerry Jones mode, acting as his own general manager after Jim Click left and before he got around to hiring Dana Brown.

The move was widely seen as questionable at the time. Although Abreu was widely respected throughout the game as a leader and quality clubhouse presence, and he was coming off a season that saw him put up a 4.3 bWAR as the first baseman for the White Sox, righthanded 1B/DH types don’t tend to age well, and there was concern about Abreu’s ability to remain productive through his age 38 season.

As it turned out, those concerns were well-founded. Abreu had an awful season in 2023, slashing .237/.296/.383 in 594 plate appearances as the team’s regular first baseman, putting up a 0.0 bWAR. Abreu did perform better in the postseason, with a 1228 OPS in the ALDS and a 783 OPS against the Rangers in the ALCS, and the hope was that he would bounce back in 2024.

Abreu bounced, but the wrong way, slashing .124/.167/.195 in 120 plate appearances, good for an OPS+ of 4. He agreed to be optioned to the minors to try to work on some things, but his performance was little better upon his return.

Jon Singleton has been getting the bulk of the playing time at first base when Abreu hasn’t played there, but he is slashing just .213/.316/.333. One would expect that the Astros, who are expected to be buyers despite being eight games back of Seattle in the West and 6 games back for the third Wild Card spot, will be in the market for a 1B/DH type over the next six weeks.