Astros bring back Brantley on 1-year deal
Michael Brantley will be back with the Astros next season after agreeing to a one-year deal for 2023, the team announced on Wednesday.?
Terms of the contract were not disclosed, but a source told MLB.com's Mark Feinsand that it is for $12 million and includes $4 million in incentives.
One of MLB¡¯s best contact hitters, Brantley will enter his age-36 campaign with a career .298/.356/.439 slash and 127 homers over 14 big league seasons.
The five-time All-Star hit .288 with a .785 OPS over 64 games for the Astros in 2022 before undergoing a season-ending arthroscopic labral repair on his right shoulder in August. Houston went on to win the World Series, making 2022 the second time a shoulder injury caused Brantley to miss a Fall Classic run. The veteran also missed Cleveland¡¯s World Series appearance in 2016 after having right shoulder surgery.
Originally selected by the Brewers in the seventh round of the 2005 Draft, Brantley joined Cleveland in 2008 as a player to be named later in the trade that sent CC Sabathia to Milwaukee.
Brantley broke out in 2014, earning the first of five All-Star selections and finishing third in the AL MVP Award voting after hitting .327 with 20 homers, 97 RBIs and an .890 OPS.
He joined Houston as a free agent after the 2018 season on a two-year, $32 million contract and inked another two-year, $32 million deal to remain with the Astros after the 2020 season.