Astros land slugger Jose Abreu with 3-year deal

First baseman Jose Abreu and the Houston Astros are in settlement on a three-year contract, a supply instructed ESPN, including one other run-producing bat to the World Collection champions’ lineup that is already full of them.

Abreu, 36, received the American League MVP award in 2020 and is second in baseball with 863 RBIs since his first season within the main leagues, 2014. He hit .304/.378/.446 this yr with the Chicago White Sox, for whom he had performed all 9 of his large league seasons after defecting from Cuba.

Following a dreadful first 5 weeks, Abreu was among the best hitters in baseball over the ultimate three-quarters of the season, batting .335/.405/.479, although his 15 house runs over the whole yr had been a profession low. He joins an Astros lineup with fellow Cuban Yordan Álvarez, Jose Altuve, Kyle Tucker, Alex Bregman and World Collection MVP Jeremy Peña.

Abreu will change Yuli Gurriel, a longtime rival within the Cuban Nationwide Collection. Abreu and Gurriel, together with Yoenis Cespedes, had been extensively considered the most effective gamers of their technology from Cuba, each high-contact hitters — although Abreu’s energy was the separator.

The White Sox prolonged him for 3 years and $50 million after 2019, when he led the AL with 123 RBIs. Over his 9 seasons, Abreu hit .292/.354/.506 with 243 house runs and an adjusted OPS 34% higher than league common.

He’s the second signing for this winter for the Astros, who re-upped reliever Rafael Montero on a three-year, $34.5 million contract. The Astros’ projected payroll is presently within the $175 million vary — they’ve exceeded $187 million every of the earlier 5 seasons — and so they nonetheless hope to signal ace Justin Verlander, who might command upward of $40 million a yr.

USA In the present day first reported Abreu’s settlement with the Astros.