Jose Abreu, 1B
If you would have told me at the beginning of the year that Jose Abreu would have been released by the Houston Astros in June, I would have called you crazy. Sure, he is not the same player who won the MVP Award in 2020, but he was still a solid bat and brought a veteran pressance to the clubhouse. The Astros are still on the hook for roughly $30M through next season, so why were they willing to move on now?
Abreu has been terrible this year, and that is putting it lightly. His slash line for 2024 is .124/.167/.195/.361 with an OPS+ of 4. No, that was not a typo. His OPS+ is 4. That means he has been 96% worse than a league average player. His decline has been well documented. His OPS+ in 2023 was 87, and it was 134 in 2022. Abreu is now 37 years old, so that may explain the sharp drop off.
I am not saying the Mariners can fix Abreu, but maybe he could catch lightning in a bottle and start the revenge tour. Maybe he can share the Houston Astros secret sauce and show these guys how to win. I doubt the Mariners go and sign Abreu at this point, unless they see something I don't. The only red on his Baseball savant page is his bat speed, which is in the 73rd percentile. He has been about as bad as a player can be, and hopefully he can get it right somewhere, but that place is probably not with the Mariners.
As always, Go Mariners!