The Houston Astros were hoping that an offseason to work on some things would help Jose Abreu find his past form that earned him a 17th-place finish in American League MVP voting the year before he signed with the team in free agency.
Originally seen as someone who would take this lineup to the next level in 2023, the former MVP winner was a shell of himself with an OPS+ under the league average of 100 for the first time in his career.
He was able to heat up at the end of the season when he blasted six homers in the month of September and added four more with 13 RBI during the playoffs.
But, that stretch was the last time Abreu would be effective for the Astros.
In 22 games, he started off this year 7-for-71, hitting zero home runs, having just one extra-base hit, three RBI and 18 times strikeouts.
It got so bad that Houston decided to send him to their Florida Complex on May 1 to work on his swing before recalling him to the team 26 days later.
Unfortunately, nothing changed and the Astros outright released him, eating the dead money that will be left on his $58.5 million contract.
Abreu never signed with another team in 2024, however, that is not stopping him from attempting a Major League comeback.
Per reporter Francys Romero, the three-time All-Star and Silver Slugger is heading to play winter ball in Puerto Rico after signing with the Senadores of San Juan. The season begins in November and will be the start of him trying to play his way into another MLB opportunity.
At 37 years old and coming off the worst season of his career with a slash line of .124/.167/.195 across 35 games, it’s going to be hard to generate interest.
It will be interesting to see what comes out of this following the winter league concluding.
