Jose Abreu’s Astros tenure is over and there’s no ‘teachable moment’ to remember

HOUSTON — This winter, the Houston Astros redecorated the interview room at Minute Maid Park, plastering portraits of notable moments and historical figures on all four walls. Next to the front door is a photograph of a homeowner admiring his act of aggression. José Abreu smiles as Jim Crane drapes a white jersey over his shoulders.

Crane had guaranteed a 36-year-old three seasons and more money than any free agent during his ownership tenure, a contract he can’t hide from and that could cripple his ballclub over the next year and a half.

The man who has to repair it took the photo Friday at 3:05 p.m. A team spokesperson said Crane “is not in Houston currently,” leaving second-year general manager Dana Brown to answer questions better served for someone else. Crane teamed up with senior advisor Jeff Bagwell to sign Abreu two months before Brown arrived.

The Houston interview room features a photo of Jim Crane and José Abreu. (Chandler Rome / Athleticism)

The second-year GM didn’t create this mess, but he was ultimately able to put an end to it. Abreu made 697 plate appearances during his 19 months as an Astro. According to FanGraphs, he has accumulated minus-2.0 wins above replacement. No player with at least 600 plate appearances since the start of last season had a lower rating.

Brown spent 17 minutes distancing himself from the disastrous deal and describing a dire situation for everyone to see. The decision to release Abreu on Friday seemed a foregone conclusion, even though it seemed like an eternity before it happened.

It’s wrong to blame Abreu for Houston’s horrible season, but the club finished 16-28 with him on the active roster. Playing with him limited the team’s flexibility and dragged down an already strong roster. Manager Joe Espada’s inability to avoid it late in Monday’s 4-3 loss to the San Francisco Giants was a glaring inflection point. Houston lost the series to San Francisco, falling eight games behind the first-place Seattle Mariners in the AL West.

“Ultimately, we had a timeline, but we just didn’t know when it would happen. A big part of it is, when you set a schedule, you’re saying, “We want to see better at-bats and those better at-bats should come in this period.” “We got to the timeline and we were like, ‘Look, Bats aren’t any better,'” Brown said.

“We are 27 days from the (trade) deadline, 12 games from mid-season. Right now, we felt like we really needed to turn things around.

Crane and Bagwell had at least some influence on Abreu’s continued presence on Houston’s roster. Perhaps Crane wanted to get the most out of a disastrous investment. Bagwell has worked extensively with Abreu, including working alongside him at the team’s spring training facility last month during a demotion to which Abreu agreed.

Espada started Abreu in 12 of 16 games following his return. He struck out 10 times, totaled seven hits in 42 at-bats and hampered Espada’s maneuvering ability late in games.

“I don’t think there’s a teaching moment here. At the end of the day, you looked at Jose Abreu – he signed before I got here – he had really good numbers,” Brown said. “There were a lot of teams looking for the first goal. Many of these deals work. Houston did some good things before I got here.

Brown loves his job. Publicly throwing your boss under the bus is one way to end it, so expecting him to say anything else is insane. Six consecutive American League Championship appearances, four American League pennants and two World Series titles are enough of a “good thing.”

To improve the quest for more, Brown and his baseball operations department must analyze whether Abreu’s miserable tenure is abnormal — an aging player who has declined faster than anyone could have anticipated — or a symptom of a problem. broader within the decision-making hierarchy. Guaranteeing three years to a 36-year-old whose power is declining is a dangerous precedent, no matter what the analysis finds.

Brown has hinted he won’t repeat that mistake, but it prompts questions about the viability of long-term contract extensions for some of the club’s best players. Both Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman will demand deals that span their 36 or 37 seasons. Jose Altuve already signed one during his age-39 season, but will only make $13 million at ages 38 and 39.

“I’m not the type of guy that’s going to be used to recruiting a lot of older guys,” Brown said. “I think sometimes you have to recruit older guys, especially when you have an opening and you have to plug that opening, you might have to do that. I think the older they get, the more we should try to age less. »

The Astros will owe Abreu the remainder of his $19.5 million salary this season and the entire sum next year — at least $30 million in dead money that Brown says will have no impact on how he can proceed at the trade deadline or next winter in his quest for freedom. agents.

“We will do what it takes to make this work,” Brown said. “We want to get back to the playoffs. Ultimately we want to win the division. We have dead money in baseball. That’s part of how it works. You bank on human beings and sometimes those human beings fall. We have dead money all over baseball.

Brown and Espada met with Abreu Friday afternoon to inform him of the club’s decision. Abreu, who was not available for comment, “handled the situation well,” Brown said.

“I led this project myself,” Brown said. “At the end of the day, as a general manager, I always talk to my owner about my thought process and I talked to Jim. But instead I led the process.

Such specificity seems unjustified, but this organization requires it. “Four or five” people make decisions in Houston’s baseball operations department, Hall of Fame advisor Reggie Jackson said during a podcast last April. Bagwell and Crane remain very influential.

On Friday, Brown reminded the large group of reporters three times that Abreu had arrived before him. In response, Brown said, “When you signed him before I got here, I think when this guy was on the market a lot of teams liked him.”

The Cleveland Guardians, Miami Marlins and San Diego Padres have all shown strong interest in Abreu, a former Rookie of the Year and American League MVP.

Yet his signing resulted in a radical departure from the procedures that set his franchise on a dynastic path. It seemed obvious at the time, but the afterglow of a World Series victory obscured it. Houston needed a first baseman to defend its championship. Crane acted as his own general manager and purchased the best available.

It exploded.

(Photo: Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)