Insider Suggests Astros' Initial Whiff On Jose Abreu Sparked Massive Mistake

The Houston Astros' disaster of a contract to land Jose Abreu could have stemmed from their past miss on him when he first entered the MLB.

Mar 30, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros first baseman Jose Abreu (79) in the dugout prior to the game against the New York Yankees at Minute Maid Park / Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports

Rewind back to the offseason following the Houston Astros' second World Series title in 2022.

Beyond the celebration about finally getting another trophy in their mantel after coming so close multiple times before, there was the idea they could still make upgrades to their roster and pursue back-to-back championships.

When they handed 2020 AL MVP Jose Abreu a then-free agent franchise record $58.5 million over three years, it was thought this team might truly have no weaknesses.

Not only did they just add another power bat to their already prolific lineup, but they replaced their departing first baseman Yuli Gurriel.

Instead, that contract turned out to be an absolute disaster.

He put together the worst output of his career with a slash line of .217/.275/.351 and -1.6 bWAR in just under 1.5 seasons. Following the Astros' surprising release of the veteran, they will still owe him more than $30 million for him not to play for this franchise.

There are now questions coming out about why Houston pursued the aging player who was 35 when they signed him.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic thinks he has the answer.

Back in 2013, the Astros missed out on signing Abreu when they came up roughly $4 million short of the contract the Chicago White Sox ultimately signed him to. They had to watch from afar as he became one of the most prolific hitters in the league.

Rosenthal believes that played a factor in their desire to finally get him to Houston when he became a free agent in 2022.

"[Jim] Crane did not reply to a text asking if the Astros striking out on Abreu the first time influenced their pursuit of him a second. But the possibility cannot be ruled out. This is an owner who signed Josh Hader after the team parted with the reliever and pursued Blake Snell during the offseason after trying to acquire him at last year's trade deadline ... Whether the move was an overreaction to the team's initial failure to land Abreu is an open question," he writes.

That's certainly interesting and would offer an explanation for why the owner decided to hand out the most lucrative free agent contract in the franchise's history at the time.

Whether or not Rosenthal's hypothesis is the actual answer is unknown.

What is known, however, is Houston will be paying the free agent flop $30 million until his contract comes off the books, and they'll have to find another answer at that position behind Jon Singleton as they look to get back into playoff contention.