Will Astros Hold Onto Brendan Rodgers Before Key Contract Decision Deadline?

Back when the Houston Astros signed Brendan Rodgers to a minor league deal on Feb. 18, there wasn't much thought that the player who was non-tendered by the Colorado Rockies was going to be a key figure for a team that made seven straight ALCS appearances before their Wild Card elimination last year.

But, Jose Altuve was officially moved to left field and that created an opening at second base.

Rodgers worked his way into the picture throughout the spring, and when it came time, the Astros decided to select his contract and put him on the Opening Day roster.

This turned his minor league deal into a $2 million Major League contract, something that came with an advanced consent clause, per Chandler Rome of The Athletic.

That clause allows Houston to either option him to the minors within 45 days or terminate the contract without having to pay out the rest of the funds, a deadline that is quickly arriving this Saturday on May 10.

Will the Astros Hold Onto Brendan Rodgers?

It's hard to say right now.

Rodgers is in the mix because manager Joe Espada still wants to use Mauricio Dubon as his super utility man, giving himself the flexibility to deploy an elite defender at multiple positions across the diamond when needed.

The Astros also believe Rodgers has a higher upside with the bat in his hands compared to Dubon, something that hasn't quite played out that way.

So far, Rodgers is slashing .225/.309/.310 with one homer, four extra-base hits and 10 RBI.

He and Houston have worked hard on improving his swing, which has paid off at times. His advanced stats looking great on paper, with Baseball Savant having his hard hit rate, barrel rate and average exit velocity sitting in the 87th, 80th and 74th percentile, respectively.

But he also is in the seventh and second percentile of whiff and strikeout rate, which has made it hard for him to be effective on a consistent basis.

That makes it difficult for the Astros to know if a turnaround is going to come or not.

At this point in time, it would be hard to imagine Houston would move on from Rodgers right now unless they have plans on moving Altuve back to second base, something they have not suggested they want to do for the remainder of the season.

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