First baseman Jon Singleton has cleared waivers and will be released by the Astros, reports Chandler Rome of The Athletic. He has actually already been officially released, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. It had been reported yesterday that Singleton would not be making the club’s Opening Day roster. Since he’s out of options, that meant his removal from the roster was inevitable.
Singleton served as the Astros’ primary first baseman in 2024 after the team released Jose Abreu. He delivered roughly league-average offense, by measure of wRC+, batting .234/.321/.386 with 13 homers. His defense and baserunning both drew negative grades, however, and he followed with a tepid .171/.239/.195 performance in 46 plate appearances this spring.
Houston signed Christian Walker to a three-year, $60MM contract this offseason, installing him as the new everyday first baseman. With Yordan Alvarez locked into the Astros’ DH spot, Singleton’s only real path to a roster spot was as a left-handed bench bat. He’s been outperformed at the plate by Cooper Hummel, however, a switch-hitter with far more defensive utility. Hummel has experience at first base, behind the plate and in the outfield corners. It’s not a lock that Hummel will make the roster, but he’s out of minor league options, which could give him an edge.
Now that Singleton has been released, he’ll be free to explore opportunities with other clubs. He might need to take a minor league deal, but a club seeking a lefty bat and/or depth at first base could take a look in the days ahead.
gonna go light one up in Jon’s honor
After his first season I cannot believe he lasted 9 more years in pro ball. It took him that long to actually become below average instead of absolute junk.
What?
Yeah he shouldn’t have said junk… replacement level is the term
Saw him play Indy ball a few years ago
Why not try to trade this guy to Colorado or Detroit? They seem to like players that can’t hit or field.
Hey c’mon Javy Baez may hear you and know he does have feelings
He also has a lot of money to help his feelings
Actually he can play in the field quite well. He looks better swinging the bat this spring,too. He is taking some pitches and getting some walks. The last few years have been brutal to watch him swinging at pitches in the other batter box.
Yes tell me more about how good he is. Please. Lol
@Well He had 4 walks in 46 PA this spring. That’s a lower rate then he had in 2024 as well as lower than his career rate.
He’s also been a below average fielder his entire career.
Can’t hit or field and still put Houston out of the playoffs.
Like you wouldn’t trade the Tigers roster for Houston’s roster. The Tigers have two decent hitters. Lol 2.
Miami Marlins!
Kody Clemens for Chas McCormick.
Kody would be a left handed compliment to Walker (1B) & Paraedes (3B). His best position is 2B, and Altuve is in LF now. Plus he’s from Texas and his father was an Astro. Just think they need another LH bat after trading Kyle Tucker and Chas McCormick lost the RF job to a rookie. They would save about $6 mil in salary as well. The Phillies have too many INF’ers and need a RH OF’er to take some pressure off of Marsh & Kepler vs. LHP.
I hope he likes sushi or kimchi.
Hagerstown Boxcars could use a body!
Is he set for life with that ill-advised $10M contract Astros gave him in 2019?
“Set for life”…Even some players bashed Singleton for taking that contract, because they felt it suppressed salaries. It turns out, taking that deal is perhaps the wisest decision Jon Singleton ever made.
Had a rough spring. But someone will sign him.
All you guys can say what you want but proud of this guy for changing his life around. He has become a good father a great mentor to other young players. He has helped a lot of the young Brewers when they were in AAA. Honestly I would rather him be on the team over Bauers.
Why do people who change their lives around, get credit for now just being an average person? I never got that.
What’s wrong with starting your life being a good person.
Seems like the perfect Pirates solution for there 1B debacle.
Honestly he’s not but I can see the Pirates front office trying to say he is
Jon, can play make no mistake. .775 OPS last year against RHP, I’d love to see him end up in Pittsburgh. Would be fun to see him unload some balls into the Allegheny
First Gamel and now Singleton? Any LH bats still around?
Defense, basrunning and hitting all drew negative grades. That’s like the animal house triple crown: fat, drunk and stupid
A team could, in theory, assemble a bench or platoon system of such players at a fraction of the cost of developing or signing comparable talent, effectively arbitraging the Astros’ (and similar teams’) optimization constraints.