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.