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Jonathan Singleton

Astros Sign Jon Singleton To Minors Contract

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The Astros have reunited with first baseman Jon Singleton on a minor league contract, The Athletic’s Chandler Rome reports.  Singleton had been a free agent since the Mets released him from a previous minors deal earlier this week.

This marks the third separate stint for Singleton with the Astros.  Initially obtained in a trade with the Phillies back in July 2011, Singleton rose to prominence as a highly-touted prospect in Houston’s farm system, and even signed a five-year extension worth $10MM in guaranteed money before he had even made his MLB debut.  However, Singleton didn’t live up to those big expectations, and hit .171/.290/.331 over 420 plate appearances in 2014-15 before disappearing off the big league map for the better part of a decade.  He didn’t play at all from 2018-20 as he served a 100-game suspension and battled substance abuse problems, and then played in the Mexican League in 2021 and then back in affiliated ball in the Brewers’ farm system in 2022.

Returning to the Show with Milwaukee in 2023, Singleton was released partway through that season and returned to Houston for the next two years.  Singleton ended up receiving quite a bit of playing time at first base in the wake of Jose Abreu’s struggles and eventual release partway through the 2024 campaign, and Singleton hit a respectable .234/.321/.386 with 13 homers over 405 PA in 2024.  This offensive production translated to a decent 105 wRC+, but Singleton was still a -0.1 fWAR player overall due to a lack of glovework or baserunning.

Christian Walker’s signing seemingly locked down the Astros’ first base position for the next three years, and Houston released Singleton at the end of Spring Training prior to Singleton landing with the Mets about a week later.  Despite an upward mobility clause Singleton triggered in his minors deal in May, New York never called up him to the big leagues, and the Mets eventually decided to part ways entirely with the infielder.

Though Walker hasn’t hit up to expectations, there isn’t much chance Singleton will be stepping back into regular duty at first base.  With seven position players currently on the injured list, the Astros are thin on experienced roster depth, so Singleton provides a familiar face and some experience at Triple-A Sugar Land.  Singleton is also a left-handed hitter, which could get him a relatively quick call to the Show to help out an Astros lineup that is very heavy in right-handed bats.

Mets’ Anthony Gose, Jon Singleton Trigger Upward Mobility Clauses

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Mets minor leaguers Anthony Gose and Jon Singleton each triggered upward mobility clauses in their contracts, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. That requires New York to offer them to other teams. If another club is willing to give either player a big league roster spot, the Mets would need to call them up themselves or let them head elsewhere (likely in a trade for cash).

Gose signed a minor league deal last December and was with the Mets in Spring Training. He worked six innings of one-run ball in camp. Gose has pitched 15 times for Triple-A Syracuse, pitching to a solid 3.31 earned run average over 16 1/3 frames. He has fanned a quarter of opponents but is walking more than 15% of batters faced. That’s par for the course for Gose, a former outfielder with a mid-90s fastball and scattershot command.

The Mets are stretched on left-handed relief depth after the A.J. Minter and Danny Young injuries. They called up minor league signee Génesis Cabrera to work as Carlos Mendoza’s primary southpaw. They added a second lefty last night, acquiring José Castillo in a DFA trade with the Diamondbacks. Gose has a relatively clear path to the big leagues in Queens, though they’ve already added two other depth arms to their bullpen instead of promoting him.

Singleton, a lefty-hitting first baseman, was in camp with the Astros. Houston released him at the end of Spring Training. He signed a minor league deal with New York at the beginning of April. He has appeared in 33 Triple-A games, batting .216/.358/.432 with seven home runs.

He’s hitting for power and drawing plenty of walks, but he has fanned in nearly 30% of his plate appearances. Singleton had a career-high 405 trips to the plate with Houston last year, batting .234/.321/.386 with 13 homers. With Brett Baty hitting well since being recalled two weeks ago, the Mets probably wouldn’t have room for Singleton if another team were willing to call him up.

Mets Sign Jon Singleton, Niko Goodrum To Minor League Deals

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April 3: Per Robert Murray of FanSided, Marte’s deal is a two-year pact. That could suggest that he’s unlikely to pitch much in 2025 as he recovers from his shoulder surgery.

April 2: The Mets announced today that they’ve signed first baseman Jon Singleton and infielder Niko Goodrum to minor league deals. Additionally, the club has signed right-hander Jose Marte to a minor league deal according to the transactions tracker on Marte’s MLB.com profile page.

Singleton, 33, served as the Astros regular first baseman last year after the club parted ways with Jose Abreu early in the 2024 season. Drafted in the eighth round of the 2009 draft by the Phillies, Singleton was shipped to Houston in the Hunter Pence trade and eventually became a consensus top-30 prospect in the sport with the Astros. The club signed Singleton to a pre-debut extension that guaranteed him $10MM over five years during his debut season back in 2014. The deal was viewed as a coup for the Astros at the time, but Singleton unfortunately hit just .171/.290/.331 over two seasons with the Astros before toiling in the minor leagues for a few years and eventually being released in 2018.

At first, it seemed likely that Singleton’s release marked the end of his baseball career. However, the first baseman resurfaced during his age-29 season with a strong showing in the Mexican League and got enough attention that he signed with the Brewers on a minor league deal for the 2022 season. He hit reasonably well at Triple-A for the club and posted even stronger numbers the following season, earning him a call-up back to the majors. He hit just .103/.188/.138 in 11 games for the Brewers, but upon being released signed with the Astros and hit a more respectable (though still subpar) .194/.301/.324 in 25 games for the club.

That performance was enough to earn Singleton his aforementioned shot at the regular first base job in 2024, and he actually started to hit for the first time in his career last year when given that opportunity. In 405 trips to the plate across 119 games, Singleton slashed .234/.321/.386. That slightly better than league average production was enough to convince the Astros to keep Singleton on the roster throughout the offseason, though not enough to stop them from signing Christian Walker to take over regular first base duties. When Singleton hit just .171/.239/.195 in Spring Training, however, Houston had seen enough and decided to cut bait.

Goodrum, meanwhile, has been part of seven MLB seasons so far in his career. The Twins’ second-rounder back in 2010, he made his big league debut in Minnesota back in 2017 but was cut from the club’s roster and ended up signing with the Tigers on a minor league deal that offseason. He went on to put up solid numbers with Detroit over the next four seasons, hitting hit a decent .232/.306/.401 (90 wRC+) in 376 games from 2018 to 2021. His production tapered off in 2020 and 2021, however, as he hit just .203/.282/.350 (75 wRC+) in those final two years in Detroit before he was outrighted off the Tigers’ roster.

In the years since leaving Detroit, Goodrum has appeared in just 28 total MLB games, hitting a paltry .111/.169/.139 in 78 plate appearances between the Astros, Rays, and Angels. When not in the majors, he’s bounced between the Red Sox, Pirates, Orioles, and Padres organizations and even had a brief stint in the KBO league where he slashed .295/.373/.387 in 50 games for the Lotte Giants. San Diego was Goodrum’s most recent stop, and the 33-year-old actually hit quite well in Spring Training as he slashed .278/.519/.444 in 14 games. That solid showing wasn’t enough to earn a roster spot with the Padres, however, and Goodrum returned to free agency where he’s now caught on with the Mets.

As for Marte, the right-hander signed with the Giants out of the Dominican Republic as an amateur and made his pro debut back in 2016. He was traded to the Angels in the deal that sent southpaw Tony Watson to San Francisco a couple of years later, however, and eventually went on to make his big league debut with Anaheim during the 2021 season. Marte was shuttled between Triple-A and the majors over the next four seasons, and his results from 2021 to 2023 were nothing short of disastrous as he posted an 8.14 ERA and 7.61 FIP in 24 1/3 innings of work with more walks (28) than strikeouts (27).

Things seemed to click for Marte in 2024, however, as he pitched to a 2.22 ERA in 28 1/3 innings in the inflated offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League while striking out 28.4% of opponents and walking a more manageable 11.2%. That success translated to the big leagues, as he posted a 2.33 ERA in 19 1/3 innings, though he only struck out 17.5% of his opponents while walking 12.5%. His season was cut short by a viral infection and shoulder surgery, however, and he found himself outrighted off the Angels’ 40-man roster at the end of the year.

With all three now set to join the Mets at Triple-A, each figures to fill a depth role for the club going forward. Singleton is locked behind Pete Alonso and Jesse Winker on the first base/DH depth chart, but it wouldn’t be a shock to see him be the next man up behind Winker as a left-handed part-time option in the case of injury. Goodrum, meanwhile, is a versatile bench piece who can play virtually anywhere on the diamond except for catcher. That’s a particularly useful skillset for the Mets while the versatile Jeff McNeil is on the injured list. As for Marte, it’s unclear whether the righty is recovered from shoulder surgery at this point, but when he returns he could be an interesting, high-upside bullpen option for the Mets at some point this year.

Astros Release Jon Singleton

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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.

Montero, Okert Will Make Astros’ Roster; Singleton Will Not

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Veteran right-hander Rafael Montero has made the Astros’ Opening Day roster, reports Ari Alexander of Houston’s KPRC-2. Lefty Steven Okert has also made the cut, per MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart. Righty Luis Contreras has also made the club, per Alexander. Lefty Bryan King will also break camp, while non-roster righty Logan VanWey will head to Triple-A. McTaggart adds that first baseman Jon Singleton has been informed that he will not make the team. Both Montero and Okert were non-roster invitees in camp, meaning both will need to be selected to the 40-man roster.

Yesterday’s release of Ben Gamel opened one vacancy on the 40-man for the Astros, and it seems another will be created by designating Singleton for assignment, trading him or releasing him. Singleton is on the 40-man roster but out of minor league options, so one way or another he’ll be coming off between now and Opening Day. If he goes unclaimed on waivers, he could potentially remain with the organization by accepting an outright assignment — but he’d also have the right to reject that assignment in favor of free agency.

Montero, 34, is in the final season of an ill-fated three-year, $34.5MM deal signed when the Astros were operating without a general manager in place. Owner Jim Crane and advisor Jeff Bagwell were reported to be running baseball operations at the time, having parted ways with James Click following the 2022 season. That period produced regrettable agreements with both Montero and the since-released Jose Abreu, to whom the ’Stros still owe $19.5MM this season.

Montero’s deal quickly blew up in similar fashion to that of Abreu. He pitched to a 5.08 ERA in 2023, allowing an average of 1.47 homers per nine frames along the way, and was tagged for a 4.70 mark in 38 1/3 innings in 2024, proving even more homer-prone that season. Houston passed Montero through waivers last summer, and he opted to accept a minor league assignment despite the fact that he could’ve elected free agency and retained his entire salary.

The hard-throwing Montero will now return to Houston’s bullpen, at least for the start of the season. He allowed five runs (four earned) on six hits and seven walks with 10 strikeouts in 8 2/3 spring innings. Statistically speaking, Montero didn’t have the best spring of Astros NRIs (particularly with regard to that 18.4% walk rate), but the Astros are paying him $11.5MM regardless, so they’ll try to recoup some value and hope he can trend closer to his outstanding 2022 form.

Okert, 33, is another story entirely. He signed a minor league deal back in November and promptly gave the ’Stros no choice but to carry him on the roster. In 11 spring frames, Okert held opponents scoreless. The veteran southpaw allowed only four baserunners — two hits, two walks — and fanned 17 of the 36 batters he faced (47.2%). His minor league deal carries a $1.2MM base salary.

Okert was a productive reliever with the Marlins in 2022-23 but struggled through 35 1/3 innings with the Twins in 2024. His lone season in Minnesota resulted in a 5.09 ERA with a 20.6% strikeout rate (second-lowest of his career) and 10% walk rate. On top of a diminished strikeout rate and shaky command, Okert yielded a career-high 1.53 HR/9.

The 28-year-old Contreras, like Okert, made it hard for the Astros to leave him off the roster. He’s already on the 40-man and could’ve been optioned, but he rattled off 9 2/3 shutout frames during camp, fanning 32.5% of his opponents. His 10% walk rate could stand to come down, but if Contreras can continue to miss bats at that level, he could get by with a higher-than average rate of dishing out free passes. He made his big league debut for Houston last year but was tagged for six runs in six innings. His strong spring will earn him another look, though.

As for Singleton, this wave of decisions will cost him his 40-man roster spot. The former top prospect returned to the Astros in 2023 after a brief appearance with the Brewers. That MLB comeback came on the heels of an eight-year absence. He wound up serving as Houston’s primary first baseman in 2024, after the club cut Abreu. Singleton hit .234/.321/.386 and popped 13 home runs but struggled with the glove and on the basepaths. He hit just .171/.239/.195 in 46 spring plate appearances. Those struggles, plus the offseason signing of Christian Walker to play first base, left Singleton with a tough path to the roster and a limited role if he’d made it.

Dana Brown, Joe Espada Discuss Astros First Base Plans

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After the Astros released veteran first baseman Jose Abreu yesterday, the move left a clear hole in the club’s lineup at first base. Both GM Dana Brown and manager Joe Espada have since spoken to media about the club’s plans at the position, as relayed by Matt Young of the Houston Chronicle.

As noted by Young, Brown told reporters that first baseman Jon Singleton, who received the majority of reps at first base when Abreu was optioned to the minors earlier this year, will get the first crack at regular at-bats at the position, with Brown noting that the club intends to give Singleton the opportunity to “grab the bull by the horn” and establish himself as a regular in their lineup. Through 50 games with the club this year, however, Singleton hasn’t done much to suggest he’s ready to step into the role of an everyday first baseman. The 32-year-old slugger has hit just .216/.313/.333 in 174 trips to the plate this year (92 wRC+). While his 13.2% walk rate in that time is quite impressive, he’s striking out at an elevated 26.4% clip and has displayed minimal power with just eight extra base hits this year.

That being said, Singleton’s actually been just above average (101 wRC+) with a 14.3% walk rate and a 22.6% strikeout rate against left-handed pitching this year. That provides some reason for optimism that Singleton could be a viable choice for the strong side of a platoon at first base, and it appears the club is receptive to that possibility. Per Young, both Brown and Espada have indicated that utility man Mauricio Dubon will factor into the club’s first base mix against left-handed pitching. Dubon is hitting a solid .302/.327/.421 (114 wRC+) in 168 trips to the plate with the Astros this year, a figure that includes an impressive 133 wRC+ against southpaws.

While the club appears to be planning on Singleton and Dubon handling first base for the time being, it appears that Astros brass are nonetheless considering alternative options should Singleton struggle in expanded playing time. As noted by Chandler Rome of The Athletic yesterday, the has considered the possibility of utilizing their catching tandem of Yainer Diaz and Victor Caratini at first base in some capacity as well. Both have produced solid offense with the bat this year for the standards of the catcher position: Diaz has slashed .258/.283/.407 (95 wRC+) in 233 trips to the plate while Caratini has posted a similar .235/.278/.408 (93 wRC+) line in 108 plate appearances.

With that said, both of those figures are below average overall and seem somewhat miscast at an offense-first position such as first base. Given that reality, it’s perhaps not a surprise that Espada indicated to reporters yesterday that the club prefers to keep Diaz and Caratini behind the plate. With that being said, the Astros did select the contract of switch-hitting catcher Cooper Hummel to replace Abreu on the roster yesterday. Hummel owns a lifetime slash line of just .166/.264/.286 in the majors, but if he can post something closer to the .301/.423/.509 slash line he has in 201 trips to the plate at the Triple-A level with the Astros this year it’s possible that he could either factor into the first base mix himself or act as a solid enough backup option behind the plate to make the Astros more comfortable utilizing Diaz and/or Caratini at first on a part-time basis.

Of course, all of these options are looking purely internally; MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart relayed yesterday that Brown noted that the Astros expect to search for an additional bat at the trade deadline in addition to their rumored pursuit of starting pitching. If Houston is indeed planning to add a bat to their lineup this summer, first base is certainly a logical fit. Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has already received some buzz as a potential candidate to move this summer, and while Toronto brass have emphasized their reluctance to make such a deal, the fit between Guerrero and the Astros is fairly obvious in the event that the 25-year-old does find himself on the move. Pete Alonso is another notable first baseman who could be on the move this summer, as MLBTR’s Anthony Franco recently discussed. Other speculative candidates to move at the deadline this summer at first base include a host of veterans on expiring deals such as Josh Bell and Justin Turner.

Astros Outright Bligh Madris

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Aug. 10: Madris went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Sugar Land, tweets Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle.

Aug. 8: The Astros announced that outfielder Bligh Madris has been designated for assignment. His roster spot will go to Jon Singleton, whose selection was reported yesterday.

Madris, 27, has been bounced on and off the Houston rosters this year, both the active and 40-man versions. Acquired from the Tigers in an offseason cash deal, he didn’t make the Astros out of Spring Training and was designated for assignment on Opening Day. He cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A, sticking in the organization. He was added back to the club’s roster in June but was put into just 12 games in a span of over one month before being optioned a couple of weeks ago.

Between his stint with the Astros this year and the Pirates last year, he’s hit just .173/.248/.252 in 153 major league plate appearances. He’s generally fared much better in the minors, including a line of .243/.357/.442 in Triple-A this year. Though in the offensively-charged environment of the Pacific Coast League, that amounts to a wRC+ of just 92.

With the trade deadline now in the past, the Astros will have no choice but to place Madris on outright waivers or release waivers. Since he was previously outrighted, he would have the right to reject a second such assignment in favor of electing free agency. Though this year hasn’t been amazing, he hit .297/.366/.510 in the minors last year and still has a couple of option years, including this one, as well as less than a year of service time. He could potentially be a long-term depth piece for any club willing to give him a 40-man roster spot.

Astros To Select Jon Singleton

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The Astros are set to select the contract of first baseman Jon Singleton from Triple-A Sugar Land, Singleton himself tells Kristie Rieken of the Associated Press (Twitter link). He’s on his way to join the team in Baltimore. A corresponding 40-man roster move will need to be announced, though Houston already opened a spot on the 26-man roster by optioning Corey Julks to Triple-A earlier today.

The 31-year-old Singleton reached the Majors earlier this season with the Brewers — his first MLB stint since his original run with the Astros in 2014-15. Prior to making his MLB debut, Singleton inked a five-year, $10MM extension with the Astros that included a trio of club options. Both parties took some criticism from detractors, with Singleton in particular drawing flak for potentially selling himself short. In hindsight, taking the deal looks to have paid off; Singleton batted just .171/.290/.333 with the ’Stros in multiple stints before being released in 2018.

That was the first of three full seasons in which Singleton was out of baseball entirely. He turned up in the Mexican League during the 2021 season and hit well enough to draw looks with the Brewers on minor league contracts in both 2022 and 2023. Though he went just 3-for-29 with the Brewers in his return to MLB action earlier this year (to say nothing of a 34% strikeout rate), Singleton has turned in a combined .289/.409/.567 slash between the Triple-A affiliates for Milwaukee and Houston this season. He’s walked at an exceptional 17.3% clip against just a 20.6% strikeout rate between those two stops.

Houston has been on the lookout for extra left-handed bats for much of the season. Michael Brantley has yet to return to the lineup after signing a one-year, $15MM deal over the winter, as multiple setbacks have popped up in his rehab from shoulder surgery. Yordan Alvarez missed more than a month of the summer with an oblique strain, though he’s back in the lineup and again serving as a middle-of-the-order masher. GM Dana Brown said in the weeks leading up to the trade deadline that he’d love to add a left-handed bat, but no deal ever materialized, so the organization will turn to an old friend and look for a late-blooming breakthrough to help balance out an extremely righty-heavy roster.

Astros Option Corey Julks; Jon Singleton Promotion Under Consideration

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The Astros announced Monday that they’ve optioned struggling outfielder Corey Julks to Triple-A Sugar Land. Houston is off for the day, so a corresponding move wasn’t announced, but general manager Dana Brown said just yesterday that the club has been considering a promotion of former top prospect Jon Singleton (link via Chandler Rome of The Athletic). Houston would need to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Singleton if he is indeed called up.

Julks, 27, has been on Houston’s roster since Opening Day but has seen his playing time dwindle in recent weeks as the roster has gotten healthier and as his own production has waned. The 2017 eighth-rounder had a string of four consecutive multi-hit games in early July, but after collecting 11 hits in four days, he’s gone just 3-for-54 in his past 19 games (15 starts).

Julks hit .289/.333/.418 through his first 249 plate appearances this season but did so in large part because of a bloated .365 average on balls in play. That good fortune has completely evaporated (.071 BABIP during this slump), and the rookie outfielder is now hitting just .245/.299/.353 on the season (with a .306 BABIP that’s right in line with league average levels). He’s striking out at a higher-than-average 23.5% mark, while his 7.1% walk rate, 87.7 mph average exit velocity and 34.9% hard-hit rate are all lower than average.

The Astros have been without much in the way of left-handed bats throughout the season, thanks to multiple setbacks in Michael Brantley’s return from shoulder surgery and an oblique strain that sent Yordan Alvarez to the injured list for more than a month. Singleton could give the ’Stros a left-handed bat to help balance things out — if he can sustain any semblance of the minor league production he’s shown this year.

Singleton, 31, is a former Astros top prospect who took considerable flak for signing a five-year, $10MM extension with multiple club options before setting foot in the Majors. Critics at the time lamented that the young slugger had sold himself short, but in retrospect Singleton may well be glad he took that deal. No one can say precisely how things would’ve panned out at he declined the offer, but a then 22-year-old Singleton hit just .171/.290/.333 in multiple auditions with the Astros before eventually being released four years later, in 2018.

Out of baseball entirely from 2018-20, Singleton raked in the Mexican League in 2021 and parlayed that performance into minor league deals with the Brewers in 2022 and again this year. Milwaukee even brought Singleton back to the Majors earlier this season — his first MLB action since 2015. That promotion came on the heels of a .258/.384/.483 slash in Triple-A, but Singleton went just 3-for-29 with 11 strikeouts in 32 plate appearances during his brief time as a Brewer. He signed back with the Astros after being released and has since been on a tear in Triple-A.

In 148 trips to the plate with the Space Cowboys, Singleton has batted .333/.446/.692 with a dozen home runs, seven doubles, a 17.6% walk rate and a 23% strikeout rate. For a team that’s been seeking a left-handed bat for some time now, there’s little harm in giving Singleton at least a short-term look — particularly when at least one member of the bench group is struggling to the extent Julks has been of late.

Notably, Rome writes that Brown implied a trade for a left-handed bat never got all that close. Brown indicated that the teams with which he inquired were typically seeking a player of Houston’s Major League roster, and he was not inclined to “weaken our club while we were trying to strengthen our club.” The summer trade market was particularly thin on lefty bats. Switch-hitters Jeimer Candelario (a better right-handed hitter), Josh Bell and Carlos Santana were moved, as was utilityman Jace Peterson, but generally speaking it was a pitching-heavy slate of players that changed hands this summer.

Astros Sign Jon Singleton To Minors Contract

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The Astros have signed first baseman Jon Singleton to a minor league deal, The Athletic’s Chandler Rome reports (Twitter link).  Singleton elected to become a free agent earlier this week rather than accept an outright assignment to the Brewers’ Triple-A affiliate.

There’s plenty of familiarity between Singleton and his new/old team, since the first baseman has spent much of his career in the Houston organization.  Singleton was a highly-regarded prospect in his days in the Astros’ farm system, to the point that the Astros locked him up to a five-year extension worth $10MM in guaranteed money before Singleton had even made his Major League debut.  At the time, it was a record-setting contract for a non-international player who didn’t have any MLB service time.

However, Houston’s early investment didn’t pay off, as Singleton hit only .171/.290/.331 over 420 plate appearances during the 2014-15 seasons.  His longstanding battle with marijuana addiction led to three different drug-related suspensions, leading to the Astros’ decision to finally release him in May 2018.  After a few years away from baseball entirely, Singleton returned in the Mexican League in 2021, then landed a minor league contract with the Brewers during the 2021-22 offseason.

After a couple of other releases and re-signings with Milwaukee on new minor league deals, Singleton finally made it back to the majors earlier this month when the Brewers selected his contract.  It wasn’t a long or particularly productive (11 games and a .325 OPS over 32 PA) stint for Singleton before the Brewers designated him for assignment, leading to Singleton’s decision to reject the outright assignment and test the open market again.

There has obviously been a lot of overhaul within Houston’s front office since Singleton’s past tenure with the club, yet beyond just any longstanding connections, Singleton is an interesting depth addition purely for baseball reasons.  The Astros’ lineup is heavy with right-handed batters, so Singleton’s lefty bat can possibly provide some balance.  In addition, Jose Abreu is unexpectedly struggling through a very tough season, leaving the Astros thin at first base.  While Singleton hasn’t been productive at the MLB level, his presence at least gives Houston a potential alternative if it wants to reduce Abreu’s playing time down to a platoon scenario.

If Singleton gets a look and doesn’t pan out, the Astros could then explore adding a more proven first-base capable player at the trade deadline.  GM Dana Brown has spoken about how the team would like to add a left-handed hitting multi-positional player, though Singleton doesn’t fit the mold as a first base-only type.

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