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3 Astros contracts We Were Happy to See End, And 2 We're Still Eager to See Expire
By Eric Treuden
The 2022 season wound up being yet another picture perfect one for the Houston Astros, as the club brought home its second World Series title since 2017.
All of the usual suspects including Jose Altuve, Kyle Tucker, Alex Bregman and Yordan Alvarez on the position player side and Justin Verlander, Luis Garcia, Cristian Javier and Framber Valdez on the mound continued to be dominant forces.
Then there's Jeremy Peña, the World Series MVP, ALCS MVP, Gold Glove Award winner at shortstop and fifth-place finisher in the AL Rookie of the Year voting.
You get the point, this club had it all.
At the end of the season, there was some roster turnover, just like there would be at the conclusion of any other season. Some reliable faces left, some re-signed and there are plenty of new friends on the squad heading into the upcoming season.
However, not every free agent from the 2022-2023 offseason will be sorely missed by the Astros and their fans. Let's take a look at three contracts we were happy to see come off the books and two more we're still eager to see expire.
Contract we're happy to have off the books No. 1: Yuli Gurriel
The very first one on our list and we're already running into a tough one. Gurriel, 38, wrapped up a largely successful seven-year tenure in Houston and was essentially good as gone as soon as the Astros signed José Abreu.
Over the years, he finished fourth in Rookie of the Year voting in 2017, won a batting title in 2021 and even won a Gold Glove at first base that same year. He has a career 110 OPS+ and has three seasons under his belt of 120 OPS+ or higher.
However, as great as he could be for the Astros, there were also some hard times. He never appeared in over 146 game in a single season and he didn't even accomplish that until last year. His power dropped off dramatically, his batting average was in a sharp downward spiral and his OPS+ dipped from 131 in 2021 all the way down to 84.
Gurriel recently signed a minor league contract with the Miami Marlins, officially ending his tenure in Houston. There wasn't an easy fit for him on this roster anymore thanks to his age and poor performances. He did well, but it was time to move on.