Astros, Reddick agree to 4-year deal
Josh Reddick
HOUSTON (FOX 26) - The Houston Astros have agreed to terms on a four-year contract with free agent outfielder and Gold Glove Award winner Josh Reddick, Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow announced on Wednesday.
Reddick, 29, played for the Red Sox from 2009 until 2011, the Athletics from 2012 until 2016 and for the Dodgers in 2016 during his career. He was widely regarded as one of the top position players available during the offseason.
Since his breakout season in 2012, Reddick has been one of the best outfielders in the American League in which he received a Rawlings Gold Glove Award while hitting 32 home runs as a member of the AL West Division Champion Oakland Athletics. Reddick, Mike Trout and Giancarlo Stanton are the only outfielders in Major League Baseball who have posted at least 2.4 wins above replacement in every season since 2012.
A left-handed hitter, Reddick set single-season career highs in both batting average (.281) and on-base percentage (.345) across 115 games in 2016. After batting .296 with a .368 on-base percentage in 68 games with Oakland, Reddick was traded to the eventual NL West Division Champion Dodgers as part of a five-player deal which included left-handed pitcher Rich Hill. Reddick went on to play in 47 games during the regular season with the Dodgers, and appeared in 10 of the club’s 11 postseason games in which he hit .308 (8x26). In his career, he has played in 21 postseason games.
Reddick crushed right-handed pitching during the 2016 regular season to the tune of a .322 batting average, which ranked eighth among all Major League hitters (min. 300 PA). He also posted a .386 on-base percentage, .485 slugging percentage and .871 OPS against right-handed pitchers in 2016.
Reddick has been one of the AL’s best defensive outfielders throughout his career, and in 2012 received a Rawlings Gold Glove Award as the top defensive right fielder in the AL. Among AL outfielders over the last five seasons, he ranks fourth in defensive runs saved (41) and tied for fifth in assists (40).
Over the last two seasons, Reddick’s combined 11.9% strikeout rate was lower than all but 18 qualifying Major League hitters.
With the signing of Reddick, the Astros now have 38 players on the 40-man roster.