It has been confirmed that the courtship of Cuban slugger Jose Abreu (36, Houston Astros) was hot.
On the 5th (Korean time), MLB.com, the official homepage of the Major League Baseball (MLB), announced the news of the contract between Eric Hosmer and the Chicago Cubs, and said, ‘As the Cubs entered the offseason, they were watching free agent (FA) Abreu.’
The Cubs, whose first base is their weakness, is facing a major league call-up for Matt Mervis (25), a major minor league prospect. Murvis was selected in the 39th round (1174 overall) of the 2016 rookie draft, but attracted attention last season by exploding 36 home runs and 119 RBIs in the minor leagues. The Cubs decided that it would take time for Murvis to settle down in the big leagues, so they looked for veteran first baseman resources in the free agent market. 토토사이트
Abreu is a giant who hit 243 homers in his MLB career (9 years). He was the American League (AL) Rookie of the Year in 2014, and in the first four years of his debut, he hit 25 homers and 100 or more RBIs every year. In 2020, which was a shortened season (162 games per team → 60 games) due to Corona, he was selected as the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) with a batting average of 0.317, 19 homers, and 60 RBIs. Last season, he also showed a great performance with a batting average of 0.304 (183 hits in 601 bats), 15 homers and 75 RBIs. His slugging percentage, which was over 60% in his heyday, has dropped to 40%, but he is still a veteran who can expect a hit at bat. He also pitched more than 9000 career innings as a first baseman.
There is another club interested in Abreu. The Miami Herald reported on the 3rd that Miami had handed Abreu a two-year contract worth 40 million dollars (50.9 billion won). Since he needed a first baseman, he offered an annual average of 20 million dollars, but was rejected. Instead, Abreu signed a three-year, $58.5 million (74.4 billion won) contract with the Houston Astros. Miami failed to recruit substitutes for Abreu, such as Justin Turner (Boston Red Sox) and Brandon Drury (LA Angels), and is currently snooping around the trade market.