The Astros have released first baseman Jon Singleton, the team announced (h/t Mark Berman of FOX 26, via Twitter). He is currently serving a 100-game suspension for his third positive test for a drug of abuse.
Singleton had previously been outrighted off of the Houston 40-man roster. Once one of the team’s top prospects, he is best known at this point for failing to pan out in the majors after signing an extension just in advance of his initial elevation to the majors.
At the time that contract was entered, it drew quite a lot of criticism. Many were concerned that Singleton — at the time, one of several high-end prospects vying to become core members of a pre-breakout Astros team — had given the team too much upside for a $10MM guarantee. But the deal has clearly turned out to the advantage of a player that received a fairly minimal signing bonus as an amateur and has accrued limited MLB time since — a possibility we pointed out in a full analysis at the time.
Singleton is earning $2MM this year, the final guaranteed season in the contract. He’s still owed $1MM in total buyouts for the next three years, as well. The deal gave the Astros successive options at $2.5MM, $5MM, and $13MM that obviously will not be exercised.
Singleton’s only lengthy MLB action came in his first season with the ’Stros. He picked up a few more in the 2015 season, but has not been back since. Through 420 plate appearances at the game’s highest level, he carries a meager .171/.290/.331 slash line with 14 home runs and 151 strikeouts against sixty walks.
Despite his struggles in the majors, Singleton remains an interesting hitter who could get a look elsewhere — at least, that is, if other organizations are willing to deal with his mounting problems with testing positive for drugs of abuse. Though he has always swung and missed a fair bit, Singleton has solid power and a phenomenal eye. Last year, for instance, he popped 18 home runs and drew 107 walks in his 500 Double-A plate appearances.
Complete waste of a career. He’d rather hit a blunt than a baseball. Good riddance.
He like that hooch
“hooch,” as in alcohol? Man, don’t ever read about that Babe Ruth guy….
Nah that’s cough syrup and alcohol
Oh, I get it. Because, you know, black. My lord, I hoped people like you were just relegated to the dark corners of the shadow web.
Purple drank brah
He was on that lean!
You on something? Lol seeing racism everywhere
That henny on deck
He did play for da City of Lean
Hate to break it to you, but theres a massive amount of MLB players who can and do love to do both.
The only thing that needs to change here is minor league baseballs archaic rules against weed – that MLB does NOT have.
Singleton is an interesting hitter, he sure does walk a lot and have power. Hopefully MiLB changes their stupid rules against a thing that basically has the same legal status as booze in many states now and he can relax after a game like a normal free citizen can and does.
By “many” you mean like 9 out of 50 states, right?
and what, near 30 for medical use. So yeah, the majority
Funny how so many normal free citizens have glaucoma these days
Or you never paid attention to their diagnosis before….
I know a couple friends who use weed for serious medical conditions, but I don’t know I’d call it “normal”.
justin-turner overdrive…….So it’s the rules that are at fault, not his inability to adhere to them? Is that your stand?
I worked for a company in sales many years ago. I was the #4 salesperson out of six even though I had the talent to be better. What held me back was if it could be poured I drank it; if you rolled it I smoked it; if it was on a mirror…well you know. I was just relaxing after work.
I was never late or sick, but I wasn’t as good as I could be. The owner begged me to straighten up…and I half heartedly tried. Then came their offer of help, as in a program. They even were willing to pay all of it, even my co-pay. If I said no….I would not have a job. I was upset at their unfair rules but I took it…I got the help even though I planned on going back to my old ways after 30 days. That was 8,427 days ago. Within one year I was #1 in sales and had quadrupled my pay.
I didn’t blame the rules after that, I blamed my stupidity and stubbornness for not following them, something Singleton should think about.
Oh gimme a break. As a sober alcoholic, I applaud you for your sobriety, but suspending players for weed in 2018 is absurd, especially when the rules apply differently to different employees in the company.
davidcoonce74…..Rules are rules whether the meet your approval or not, just as the rules at my company did not suit me. I had a choice, so does he, like it or not.
There is one reason MLB is lenient on weed/hash/thc…the union. That is it.
I can’t do weed and keep my job I don’t see why baseball players should be any different. I also can’t be drunk or abuse over the counter stuff either.
There is also a case to be made that his use of this is what has derailed his career.
Wrong. Drug laws are “morality” laws that aren’t rules for living in a safe society, they are rules for controlling your behavior, something that is entirely anti American.
Did I mention laws? No, I mentioned rules set forth buy an employer which a person can abide by or ignore.
If your employer has a rule that says no more than 2 earrings per ear and you insist on wearing 6 in each ear until you get canned is it your fault or theirs?
Hey Cat, I just want to applaud you on your sobriety. Far too many people refuse the help they need because they think that they can have their vices and be productive. While just being productive may be a goal for everyday citizens who are users, the goal for professional athletes is to be at peak performance. That aspect is lost most often during this debate. The rules pertaining to drugs of abuse are to protect the players from themselves while the the rules for performance enhancing drugs are to protect other players from unfair advantages.
But what if that rule was only selectively enforced? Management could have as many earrings as they wanted but staff couldn’t. Seems unfair and stupid, doesn’t it?
Whether you agree with the law or not isn’t the point. It’s still federally illegal and illegal in TX. They still have to adhere by the law.
You are dealing in ifs, I am dealing in facts. They rules are different in MLB and MiLB for one reason and is isn’t management. it’s due to one of the strongest unions in existence.
There have only been minor differences to Sec. 7 of the JDA from when this was published in 2015. Read and learn. link to fangraphs.com
Current JDA – link to mlbplayers.com
Congrats, Cat. I haven’t had a drink in 2 1/2 years +. People may not agree with the rules, but you have to follow them or suffer the consequences. I may think income taxes are too high, but you can damn well bet I’m gonna pay them. Prison doesn’t appeal to me. 2 days in the county jail sucked bad enough.
MLB players are not suspended for weed, no matter what state they play in
bigalcathey – before you know it, it will be 22 1/2 years
LumberJerk9Billion – I drank, smoked, snorted and patted myself on the back because I didn’t do it at work and was mildly productive.
It’s easy to lie to yourself.
Curious…. Is it bi-gal Cathey or Big Al Cathey?
baseball does have rules against weed use. They just don’t get tested in the majors unless they failed a test in the minors
‘love’ hopefully is not the right word. If you ‘love’ any substance you have a problem. ‘enjoy’ would be a better take on it.
It was a good idea to extend him early even though it obviously didn’t pan out. The Astros have been really good about locking up guys through their pre-arb years, and this didn’t really cost them too much in the long run; sometimes prospects don’t pan out. That’s true of every organization.
As far as the weed stuff, meh, it’s absurd that MLB suspends for it in the minors and not in the majors, especially when it is legal in like 1/3 of the states. It’s not a PED in any way, and there’s no real reason in 2018 to still be treating it like we were in the movie Reefer Madness.
420 career plate appearances, how ironic.
LMAO
Or was it ichronic?
It is rather shocking that he is still merely 26, and that any team who signed him could control him until 2024 if they so chose
That said, he’s now gone from MLB (15) to AAA (16) to AA (17) to a near season-long Suspension (18) – with pitiful results at every stop as he climbed down the latter. There might be interest still, but I can’t imagine much any longer
Singleton may have done his career more harm with that lackluster 2017 season in Double-A than he did with his off-the-field troubles.
Second, third, and fourth chances are easier to come by when it doesn’t appear the player in question has already begun his decline.
Sad. Get help dude. This isn’t the NFL
What’s his DOC?
He would have 420 career plate appearances. Classic Jon Singleton.
He obviously isn’t as good as the rest of the Astros at hiding the use of it. Yes I’m a mariners fan so insert Cano/Cruz/Gordon shots here. I just wanna know more about spin rate mysteries, tell me more Trevor Bauer?
Singleton is earning $2MM this year
———————
Huh? No he’s not. Suspended players don’t get paid.
You beat me to this.
Rusney Castillo needs to be very careful about what he eats. All it takes is three edibles followed by filling a cup and that guaranteed contract is gone.
Hehe. I wonder if Prince Fielder still gets tested…
I think they meant that has contract calls for a $2 million salary and unlike some other sports, you don’t have the ability to cancel has contract due to a PED or drug violation
“I think they meant that has contract ……cancel has contract due to a PED or drug violation”
“Has” and “his” are two different words. If your English teacher has not noticed your usage of “has” it’s probably due to fatigue because he/she has to work a second job after the school day ends.
Tax dollars are for building free ballparks for billionaires to get richer, not to pay teachers.
I believe a comma should follow “has”. Ya know, since you’re into grammar errors.
I thought third suspension means lifetime ban? Isn’t that what happened for Mejia from the Mets?
Penalties for drugs of abuse are different than PED’s
You are going out for a coffee shop in case we can have dinner tomorrow on Sunday afternoon on Saturday and Sunday night I can have dinner
This is probably the best thing for him. Now he doesn’t have to worry about being drug tested. He can just sit at home “curing his glaucoma” until the money runs out.
Of all the players traded for Hunter Pence – Singleton, Cosart, Zeid, Joseph, Rosin, Schierholtz, Santana – only 1 of them is still playing in the majors. Generally worth it to trade prospects for all-star level players. “such a huge haul” 1 of 7 players panned out, so far… Santana looks bad this year.
That’s 2 separate trades fyi.
Amen. I remember that Pense trade and all the ney sayers. Remember, a bird in the hand (MLB players) is better than 2 in the bush (prospects). Santana had a good year last year, but in the end, that trade didn’t help the Astro’s one bit.
Exactly. And then… the Phillies got nothing out of trading Pence.
Singleton get a shot with another organization? Pffffff. He’s the poor man’s Chris Carter, and what’s Carter doing these days?
And magically Carter was just signed by the Twins. Can’t make this stuff up.
The guy is a mental midget.
giants ought to pick him up, farm system is depleted and could use decent bodies, you don’t have to pay him this year and if timmy is any indication, don’t care about a little weed smoke.
I would be shocked if anyone gave Singleton a shot. He batted .210 last year in AA as a 26 year old…. In addition to having drug problems…. I’m not going to debate the merits of weed. Don’t care. It’s against the rules for minor league baseball and he can’t stop/won’t stop smoking weed.
Everyone banging on this dude, that clearly needs help. Marijuana in fact does have addictive ability as well as tolerance. Let’s hope he gets the help he needs before searching for another way to get his high
I can remember all the sourness of the Philly Phans for “giving up so much” to Houston and including slugger Singleton. The “heir apparent” to Ryan Howard was “the biggest mistake” of that trade since moving Ryan Sandberg to Chicago. He had potential (and at 26, he could still make a name for himself on the field) and is young enough to clean up his act. For all those that say “weed” ain’t no big deal, it may not be to you. However, when MLB teams are paying you millions upon millions, there is an expectation that you are performing at your physical best all the time. I have the same problem with guys “tyin’ one on after a game’ and getting sloppy drunk. Playing hung over does not mean playing at your best. Work requirements are just that, regardless of what the “legal implications are” for smoking weed. If you don’t like the work conditions, don’t work. MLB players have expectations as do MiLB work requirements. Don’t sign up for something and then expect to change the rules to suit your own standards. My hope is that he gets the proper direction from family/advisors. He had talent, still does. Can he hone it to be productive? That is the long term question while the short term answer is “3 strikes and your out”
Josh Hamilton was able to get himself clean long enough to approach his potential for several years with CIN/TEX, so there is hope. Singleton has to have to will, drive, and focus to make it happen. Nobody’s gonna do it for him – has to come from within.
Yea… at my job, testing positive means you’re fired. Drugs or alcohol. I don’t get “suspended” it’s called unemployed.
Calling weed a “drug of abuse” is just embarrassing, like, what decade do you have to be living in to think that? Not this one.
I still believe that he’ll make it back to the majors one day. Good hitter in the minors before that contact