Angels: Ranking the 10 worst contracts in the American League West right now

6) Worst contracts in the AL West: Jose Abreu of the Houston Astros

Heading into the 2023 season, it felt like Jose Abreu was a perfect fit for this Astros team. Their weakest spot position-player wise last season was first base with Yuli Gurriel having a down year, and bringing in a former MVP in Abreu felt like a very easy decision.

Sure, he had seen a bit of a power decline in his final year with the White Sox, but going to the Crawford Boxes in Houston felt like the perfect recipe for the right-handed hitting Abreu to get right back to being a 25-30 home run hitter.

Abreu signed a three-year deal worth $58.5 million. It felt like a lot of money and more importantly a lot of term for a 36-year-old first baseman, but Houston had filled their biggest hole. Or so we thought.

Abreu has struggled mightily in his first season as an Astro, slashing .232/.288/.341 with 10 home runs and 57 RBI. His 73 WRC+ ranks last among 23 qualified first basemen. His -1.3 fWAR is also dead last among that group of first basemen. Even the Angels have a higher WRC+ out of their first basemen (90 WRC+ - 25th in MLB) than the Astros do (73 WRC+ - 29th in MLB). They even have a higher fWAR (1.4 fWAR - 16th in MLB vs. -1.3 fWAR - 29th in MLB).

The Astros are set to pay Abreu $19.5 million next year and the year after that. Considering the fact that he'll be 37 and 38 in those seasons, I wouldn't expect much better production than they're getting now.