The Houston Astros are just a game over .500 on the regular season. Houston signed the likes of Christian Walker this past winter, but lost Alex Bregman in the process. Bregman has excelled with the Boston Red Sox, hitting .304 with a 2.4 WAR just 43 games into his Fenway Park career. However, not all former Astros can be so lucky. Jose Abreu still doesn't have a job, and it's unclear if he'll play in MLB again.
Abreu hasn't resurfaced in MLB as an actual first base option this season. In fact, the only times his name was mentioned were due to honest wellness checks, and early-season comparisons for Walker when he was struggling. Walker has since turned his season around, thankfully, while Abreu remains on baseball sabbatical. Here is what Houston GM Dana Brown had to say when the Astros got rid of Abreu last season:
“We’ve been talking about it over the last week or so,” Brown said. “Ultimately, Abreu is an outstanding human being. He’s had an outstanding career. We tried different things to get him going, like sending him down. As we talked through the process this week, we felt like it was time to make a change.”
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Jose Abreu's MLB career could be over thanks to the Astros
And a change was made. While the Astros have gotten considerably better production from the first base spot since Abreu left, the same cannot be said for the player himself. One analyst from Just Baseball is convinced this is the last we've seen from the former All-Star.
"The fall of Abreu needs to be studied. As recent as 2022, he hit north of .300 in 157 games with the White Sox, showing no signs of slowing down," Michael Monreal wrote. "However, after going to the Astros, the production from the former Rookie of the Year cratered. In 2024, Abreu was borderline unplayable, with an abysmal slash line that accumulated -1.7 bWAR in 35 games."
And Monreal is right. If players like Anthony Rizzo are still available at the same position, then why would Abreu receive another chance?
Little did Abreu know that the Astros were his best, last chance.