Astros Re-Sign Ben Gamel

The Astros are re-signing Ben Gamel to a one-year major league contract. The Wasserman client has reportedly already passed his physical. He is guaranteed a $200K signing bonus and would secure a $1MM base salary if he breaks camp. While the team has yet to finalize the signing, general manager Dana Brown publicly confirmed the agreement this evening (relayed on social media by Mark V). The Astros have a 40-man roster opening thanks to the Ryan Pressly trade, so no corresponding move is necessary.

Dana Brown has spoken all offseason about the team’s desire for a lefty-hitting outfielder. Gamel fits the bill and has some familiarity in the Houston clubhouse. The Astros snagged him off waivers from the Mets last August. Gamel provided a bit of a boost offensively, hitting .259/.377/.362 in 20 games. His season ended in mid-September when he broke his left fibula, sustained when he crashed into the outfield wall while tracking down a Mickey Moniak fly ball. Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports that the veteran outfielder is expected to be a full participant in Spring Training.

Gamel, 32, has appeared in the majors in nine straight seasons. He played somewhat regularly with the Mariners, Brewers and Pirates between 2017-22. He has spent the last two years as a depth option. He made six appearances for the 2023 Padres and combined for 38 games between the Mets and Astros last year.

In a little over 2300 career plate appearances, Gamel owns a .252/.334/.382 slash line that is roughly league average. He has middling power with a very patient plate approach. Gamel’s willingness to work deep counts has translated to a strong 10.5% walk percentage, though he has also fanned in around a quarter of his trips to the dish. He has been an excellent Triple-A performer throughout his career, hitting .303/.381/.468 across 420 games at the top minor league level.

While Gamel addresses Houston’s desire for a lefty-swinging outfielder, he doesn’t have huge platoon splits. He’s a career .252/.337/.387 hitter against righties and carries a .252/.324/.364 slash versus left-handed pitching. Gamel is a fringy runner who is limited to the corner outfield, where defensive metrics have graded him as a below-average defender.

Gamel should have a real opportunity to play his way into a decent amount of playing time in Houston. The Astros have a thin outfield following the Kyle Tucker trade. Defensive stalwart Jake Meyers is ticketed for regular run in center field. Chas McCormick will get the bulk of the playing time in right field. He’s looking to rebound from a career-worst .211/.271/.306 showing. Gamel may end up as the Opening Day left fielder. Manager Joe Espada said that he’d prefer to limit Yordan Alvarez’s outfield work to keep him healthy. Taylor Trammell, a career .167/.270/.363 hitter who took eight MLB plate appearances last year, projected as Houston’s left fielder before this signing.

Utilityman Mauricio Dubón will be in the mix at various infield and outfield positions. The Astros have kicked around the idea of giving Jose Altuve some left field work. If Houston re-signed Alex Bregman, that’d push Isaac Paredes to second base and move Altuve into left field every day. While that door remains cracked as long as Bregman remains unsigned, the Astros don’t seem to be confident in their chances of re-signing him. Their pursuit of Jorge Polanco as an infield fallback came up short. Houston could theoretically make Dubón a full-time second baseman and commit to pushing Altuve to the outfield, but that’d limit their versatility off the bench.

Offloading $8.5MM of Pressly’s $14MM salary dropped the Astros below the luxury tax line. RosterResource calculates their CBT around $237MM, making the assumption that Gamel will stick on the roster into the regular season and count for a $1.2MM tax hit. That puts the Astros around $4MM shy of this year’s base threshold. Owner Jim Crane has shown a willingness to exceed the threshold if it meant getting Bregman back at a favorable price — they’ve reportedly had a six-year, $156MM offer on the table for most of the winter — but it doesn’t seem the Astros want to go beyond the line for marginal upgrades.

Chandler Rome of The Athletic first reported that the Astros were re-signing Gamel. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that it was an MLB deal that included a $200K signing bonus and a non-guaranteed $1MM salary. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported the condition that the salary became guaranteed if Gamel were on the Opening Day roster.

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