Astros lose another one

The Astros lost out to the White Sox in the bidding war for the services of Free Agent slugger Jose Abreu. But was it really a big loss?

Jim Crane and company reportedly made an offer of more than $50 million for the 27-year old Abreu, but the White Sox offer of $68 million for six years ended up  being the winner. Or was it? Is a player who has never played a game in the major leagues worth that kind of an investment? Only time will tell.

Thomas Campbell-USA TODAY Sports

Given the Astros current state of rebuild, losing this one could prove to be a blessing in disguise. David Coleman’s article at The Crawfish Boxes does a nice job of weighing the pros and cons.

There are definitely two schools of thought on this subject. The diehard Astros fans that remain seem to be split into two groups. One group is desperate for the team to start spending in an effort to field a team that has a chance of winning more than one-third of its games. Group B has bought into the propaganda and is convinced that spending now would be counterproductive to the groundwork that has already been done.

You know which group you fit into, but this particular Free Agent may have prompted some of us to “cross over”. Unlike any other worthwhile Free Agent on the market this offseason, signing Abreu wouldn’t have cost the Astros a pint of their lifeblood — a draft pick. Abreu is also younger (allegedly) and ultimately cheaper than the MLB veterans whose agents will be busy negotiating contracts this winter.

But the fact that Abreu is unproven at the big league level may have been a deal breaker for some. Recent Cuban defectors have had some success in the big leagues but there still isn’t enough data there for most of us to be comfortable enough to make that big of an investment.

I want to know what you think. Did the White Sox overpay for Abreu or should the Astros have gone higher?