The Astros released José Abreu with more than $30 million remaining on his contract

MLB

by Bridget Riley

José Abreu packs his bags, and there is a lot of money in them.

The Astros released the first baseman on Friday, less than two years into his three-year, $58.5 million contract. The team announced.

Abreu still owes $30.8 million, According to ESPN.

Abreu emerged as a major leaguer in his time with the White Sox, but failed to bring star power to the Astros after joining them as a free agent.

In his nine seasons with Chicago, Abreu won the AL MVP award in 2020 and had three All-Star and Silver Slugger seasons.

He also won the Rookie of the Year award in 2014.

The Astros rarely saw this version of Abreu after signing him in November 2022.

Across 176 games, he has a .217 batting average and a .625 OPS.

In April of this year, amid a rough start to the season, he agreed to be optioned to the minors in hopes of finding his old ways at the team’s facility in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Abreu played five games with the team’s rookie league team and also appeared in two games with Triple-A Sugar Land during his roughly month-long tenure.

The transformation never came.

The 37-year-old hit .167 with a .186 on-base percentage and a .333 slugging percentage in 13 games after his call-up.

Abreu posted a dismal .124 average, a .167 on-base percentage, a .195 slugging percentage and a .361 OPS this season. He has just 14 hits in 113 at-bats this season, along with two home runs and seven RBIs.

With the Astros down in the AL West standings, the team couldn’t find any other reasons to keep Abreu around.