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Michael Brantley's return to the Astros might be the best under-the-radar deal of the off-season. Read on for seven reasons why.

Championship teams interested in repeating as champions have to make sure they have top-notch talent and serious depth. The World Series-champion Astros appeared to have made a steal in inking free agent Michael Brantley to a one-year extension. Here are seven reasons why the Brantley deal is perhaps the most underrated free agent acquisition this entire off-season.

1. Proven Track Record

World Series - Philadelphia Phillies v Houston Astros - Game Six / Carmen Mandato/GettyImages

Perhaps the most underrated move this offseason is
the Astros inking free agent Michael Brantley to a contract extension.
Uncle Mike, as many of his younger teammates colloquially refer to him,
has turned in a career .298 batting average.

Brantley is a doubles machine. His 346 doubles rank
him 14th in the majors among active players. Moreover, only 14 active
players have more hits than Brantley’s 1,641.

If Michael Brantley wanted to test the waters, even at 35-years-old, he could generate interest to start in left field for most MLB teams. Though even if he was named a starter for another club besides the Astros, he might lose his job if his right labrum injury affects his future 2023 productivity. But that is very unlikely.

Brantley’s right labrum, located between his shoulder and upper arm, was operated on—a much better situation than if his throwing arm labrum needed to get repaired.

2. Career fielding percentage

World Series - Philadelphia Phillies v Houston Astros - Game One / Bob Levey/GettyImages

Through 14 seasons in the big leagues, Brantley has achieved a respectable .993 fielding percentage. But how consistent has the five-time All-Star been lately? In his five seasons as an Astro, Brantley has only made four defensive errors. When it comes to experience for throwing and fielding technique as a dependable outfielder, Brantley has it.

3. Batting average in the regular season

Houston Astros v New York Yankees / Jim McIsaac/GettyImages

Only two Astros who played in at least 60 games finished the ’22 season with a higher batting average than Michael Brantley’s .288—Jose Altuve, who finished exactly at .300, and Yordan Alvarez, who finished at .306. Even playing in only 64 games this last season, Brantley finished closer to the .300 mark than most of his teammates. Let that sink in—most of the hitters in an offense talented enough to win a World Series possess batting averages inferior to Brantley’s, the guy the Astros just re-signed.

4. Productivity in the postseason

World Series - Atlanta Braves v Houston Astros - Game Six / Tom Pennington/GettyImages

Over his four seasons as an Astro, Brantley has turned in a .300 or better batting average in three out of four years. His career batting average as an Astro sits at .303. But when it comes to the postseason, Brantley continues to deliver. His combined batting average in the 2019 and 2021 World Series sits at .327, while he also boasts a career World Series on-base percentage of .407.

5. Good for team chemistry

Brantley, colloquially referred to as Uncle Mike and Dr. Smooth, even by some of his younger Astros teammates, appears to fit in positively with the Astros’ team culture. He appears to be a nice guy other players can seek for mentoring, and has been involved in the community. Brantley has been involved in supporting the National Hemophilia Foundation.

6. Good for Houston’s outfield situation

Spraining a hamstring, plantar fasciitis, tearing tendons—these are just some of the risks to the legs that baseball players have to endure during training and in games. Outfielders need to be healthy physically to optimize their sprint speed. Catching a ball or being a fraction of a second too slow to get there can mean the difference between making an out or the ball landing in the gap for a hit that changes the outcome of a game.

Since Yordan Alvarez has received arthroscopic surgery on both of his knees in the past, it helps the Astros depth chart to have Brantley ready to play more innings as a defensive outfielder. Inking Brantley to a one-year deal allows both Alvarez and Brantley opportunities to DH and takes days off from the sprinting-intensive nature of the outfield position.

Additionally, Brantley had surgery on his labrum, located above his shoulder, which means his legs for the outfield should be fine—the injury occurred around the elbow. How many teams would love to have Brantley with healthy legs as a defensive outfield option? This provides a great insurance policy if the knees of Yordan Alvarez might give trouble during the upcoming season.

7. Relative affordability of his 2023 contract

New York Mets v Houston Astros / Carmen Mandato/GettyImages

In the era of 300-million dollar contracts, Brantley just might provide the Astros with a .300 batting average in 2023 for only 12 million dollars. Sure—it’s a chance the Astros are taking, but Brantley’s track record of getting on base is too advantageous for the Astros to pass up. Think of this way—even if the Astros had Carlos Correa on a one-year deal for 2023 in the neighborhood of 30 million dollars, the odds still favor Brantley as more likely than Correa to finish the upcoming season with a higher batting average.

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Astros: 7 Reasons Signing Michael Brantley is Best Sleeper Deal in Baseball