MLB 2024: The worst free agent signings in recent history - ESPN

The Houston Astros had little choice in releasing first baseman Jose Abreu given his horrendous start this season, but it's still a decision teams are reluctant to make: Eating a big chunk of money, $30.8 million in this case. Signed as a free agent before the 2023 season, Abreu was hitting .124 in 35 games and the Astros had given the 37-year-old former MVP 120 plate appearances to see if he had anything left; he didn't. Given that they are six games under .500 and their offense ranks just seventh in the American League in runs, the Astros couldn't wait any longer.

It's an ignominious ending for Abreu, the 2020 American League MVP and a two-time RBI champ. It's not overstating things to suggest that Abreu, who was 27 when he signed with the Chicago White Sox in 2014 after defecting from Cuba, would be a potential Hall of Famer if he had gotten to the majors sooner. He joined the Cuban professional league when he was just 16, hit .337 at age 18 and was the best hitter in the league in his 20s.

In his first season with the White Sox, he hit .317 with 36 home runs, leading the AL in slugging percentage and adjusted OPS. He drove in 100 runs in five of his first seven seasons, missing only in 2018 (when he missed 34 games) and the shortened 2020 season (when he led the majors with 60 RBIs in 60 games).

We could attempt to backfill some of Abreu's missing major league seasons to create an estimated career WAR. In his first four seasons with the White Sox, he averaged 4.3 WAR, with a high of 5.8 in that first season. His first huge offensive season in Cuba came when he was 22, so that's five seasons we can assume he would have played at an elite level. Let's say he averaged 4.5 WAR over those five seasons and averaged 2.5 WAR