A year and a half ago, Jose Abreu signed as a free agent with the Astros after nine seasons with the White Sox.  At the time, I wrote about the decline he showed during that last season on the south side:

For the Astros sake, you hope that was a blip and not an indication of decline as Abreu plays through his mid-30s.

A blip it was not.  Abreu struggled from the start in Houston, before managing to turn things around in September and October, providing some key home runs during the Astros run in the post-season.  He has not been so lucky this year.  After starting the season with just seven hits in 71 at bats, he agreed to be optioned to the minor leagues to reset and rework his swing.  He worked with Astros legend Jeff Bagwell to regain the timing and the swing that led him to the 2020 MVP award.  Once he returned to the Astros roster, however, the results, while improved, were still well below expectations.  Yesterday, the Astros pulled the plug, releasing the 37-year-old first baseman and eating more than $30 million.

Where does Abreu go from here?  Some team may be willing to take a flyer on him at league minimum, but, barring injuries, there doesn’t appear to be a clear favorite.  It may be that this is the end of the road for the Cuban-born slugger.  If so, he has left behind a lifetime of memories in Chicago and a year and a half worth of regrets in Houston.