Houston Astros Listed Among Top Fits for Slugging First Baseman

The Houston Astros tried to piece together first base in 2024, but could bring in a permanent solution this winter.

Oct 20, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; New York Mets first base Pete Alonso (20) hits and reaches first base on an error during the first inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers during game six of the NLCS for the 2024 MLB playoffs at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jason Parkhurst-Imagn Images / Jason Parkhurst-Imagn Images

The Jose Abreu era was not anything close to what the Houston Astros were hoping that it would be when they signed the veteran to a three-year, $58.5 million contract.

It got to a point where the production from Abreu was so bad, that the Astros decided it would be better to outright release the player and pay him not to play for them.

Once the veteran was off the roster, three other players took at least one at-bat for Houston while manning first base, though none of them had very much success.

Between Abreu, Jon Singleton, Zach Dezenzo, and Aledmys Diaz, the Astros received a combined line of .226/.291/.360 with 18 home runs and 68 RBI, with their .651 OPS tied for 26th in all of baseball.

A recent report indicates that they could see some improvement from the position as early as next year, however, as Mark Feinsand of MLB.com lists Houston as one of the seven best fits for Pete Alonso through free agency.

"The potential return of Bregman could be a major factor in the Astros’ interest in Alonso," writes Feinsand, "who would be a huge upgrade at a position that produced a .651 OPS and 18 home runs for Houston in 2024."

Just last year alone, Alonso batted .240/.329/.459 with 34 home runs and 88 RBI, and his OPS of .788 would not only be an improvement of .137 but would also rank sixth in all of baseball.

The Polar Bear is a right-handed power hitter, a profile that plays well at Minute Maid Park with the Crawford Boxes in left field artificially increasing the home run totals of right-handed hitters for years.

Alonso has had success at Minute Maid Park throughout his career, though it has come in a small sample size, batting .278/.364/.667 with two home runs and four RBI across 22 plate appearances in five games.

If the slugger played all of his games in Houston this year, Baseball Savant tells us that he would have hit 42 home runs instead of 34.

The only thing that could be keeping the Astros from pulling the trigger is the lack of success that Abreu had once they signed him after being one of the best hitters in the sport for many years prior to the signing.

Abreu was much older then than Alonso is now, six years older to be exact, but the Polar Bear could be showing signs of decline in his game already if 2023 and 2024 were not just down years.

Alonso batted .261/.349/.535 with 146 home runs, 380 RBI, and a 140 OPS+ from 2019 through 2022, but only batted .229/.324/.480 with 80 home runs, 206 RBI, and a 123 OPS+ over the last two seasons.

With the way that Houston's roster is already stacked, signing Alonso could be worth the gamble, as long as he comes at a much cheaper price than Abreu did.