Houston Astros fans received a blast from the past this weekend, as a player the team once thought would be a key part of its rebuild last decade returned to the organization on a minor-league contract.
Prior to Saturday’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Astros announced that they had signed infielder Jon Singleton, who was once the top position player in Houston’s farm system. The 31-year-old has been assigned to Triple-A Sugar Land, where he will continue what has been a unique journey in professional baseball up to this point.
Singleton was acquired by the Astros in 2011—along with Jarred Cosart, Josh Zeid, and Domingo Santana—when the team traded Hunter Pence to the Philadelphia Phillies amid the first of three consecutive 100-loss seasons. He appeared in 114 games at the MLB level for the Astros, posting a .171/.290/.331 slash line with 14 home runs, 50 RBI, 28 runs, 151 strikeouts and 60 walks, but has spent the bulk of his professional career in the minor leagues. In 1,064 games in the minors, Singleton has a .252 batting average with 169 home runs, 645 RBI and an .828 OPS. He appeared in his first MLB game since 2015 earlier this year, and went 3 for 29 in 11 appearances with the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Astros signed Singleton to a five-year, $10 million guaranteed deal in 2014 that had the potential to be worth $35 million over eight years, in what appeared to be a prudent move as an extended rebuild began to turn the corner. But Singleton’s struggles—on and off the field—led to Houston releasing him in 2018 as he was serving a 100-game suspension for a third positive drug test.
Singleton deserves credit for his commitment to pursuing his big-league ambitions, and its worth noting the numbers he put up with Milwaukee’s Triple-A affiliate over the past two years have been among the best of his tenure in the minors. Singleton had a career-high 24 home runs in 2022, and this year’s .258 batting average in Triple-A is his highest since his 54-game stint in the minors in 2014.