HOUSTON – – In what Astros chief Joe Espada portrayed as a “exceptionally extreme day,” the Astros on Friday took action that was unavoidable. The club delivered veteran first baseman José Abreu not even part of the way through the three-year, $58.5 million arrangement he endorsed with Houston in November 2022. That implies the Astros should pay the excess $30 million on Abreu’s agreement, however his presence in the setup was a developing issue, particularly for a group that started Friday eight games back in the American Association West and six games out in the AL Trump card race. Abreu, 37, had a .362 Operations with two homers in 35 games with the Astros.
“It was not an easy conversation,” said Espada, who was among a contingent that traveled to Abreu’s home in Florida to help lure him to Houston a year and a half ago. “What José Abreu has meant to this organization helped us get to another Championship Series last year. What he’s done in this game, it was not easy.”
Astros general manager Dana Brown, who was hired after the Abreu signing, said he and Espada met with Abreu on Friday afternoon to deliver the news.
“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.”
