The Houston Astros Have Signed Josh Reddick To A Four-Year, $52 Million Deal
The Houston Astros need to chill out. About an hour ago, I hit publish on a blog that discussed the trade in which the Astros flipped a pair of prospects to the Bronx for Brian McCann, and now they’ve signed outfielder Josh Reddick to a four-year deal worth $52 million.
In that blog about the trade for McCann, I talked about how the Astros were a little right-handed heavy in their lineup, and they just changed that in one night by bringing in both McCann and Reddick. That, and they’re also still rumored to be interested in the switch-hitting free agent DH, Carlos Beltran. My first thought when I saw this news was that the Astros just signed a right fielder when they already have a really good right fielder in George Springer. Springer has played some centerfield at the major league level, but primarily has been a right fielder, and Reddick has played some center and left field, but hasn’t played more than one game at a position other than right field since 2012 when he played 14 games in center for the A’s. Somebody’s gonna have to make a move, and I’m assuming it’s going to be Reddick.
Over the last two years, Reddick has been slightly better than what the league average for outfielders has been. Since 2015, Reddick has hit .276 with a .768 OPS, while the league average for outfielders over that span has been .264 with a .760 OPS. A four-year deal for Reddick will lock him up for his age-30 through 34 seasons. Aside from getting a pair of lefty bats, which the Astros needed, they also acquired two great clubhouse guys, which was much very much needed, given how young their roster was.