Colby Rasmus signs with Astros, appropriately ending tenure with Blue Jays

There was never really a mystery as to whether Colby Rasmus would return to the Toronto Blue Jays this winter, as the writing has been on the wall since his September benching. The only real question would be where the former Jays’ center fielder would end up, with the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays rumored to be landing spots at one point or another.

At the end of the day, it was the Houston Astros who snuck in and inked Colby Rasmus to a one-year deal, as noted by Jon Heyman of CBS Sports and Jon Morosi of Fox Sports.

The landing spot in Houston is somewhat of an appropriate one at that. With a young roster full of guys trying to make a name for themselves, the Astros present a soft landing for Rasmus where he can get comfortable and focus on playing baseball. Additionally, he has familiarity with general manager Jeff Luhnow, who was the scouting director that drafted Colby Rasmus when he was with the St. Louis Cardinals.

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But there’s an additional factor here that could really benefit Colby Rasmus as well. As Jeff Sullivan at FanGraphs point out, the Houston Astros are going to strike-out, and they were going to do it a lot, even before Colby Rasmus put his signature on a contract.

In Toronto, Colby Rasmus’ strike-outs were seemingly always under a microscope. That’s a given when you post five consecutive seasons with a K-rate of 22% or higher, including rates of 29.5% and 33% during 2013 and 2014 respectively. However, on this Astros team, strike-outs will be a second thought with many of the Astros players equaling or better the marks of Rasmus from a season ago.

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In that group, Rasmus will be just the norm instead of the anomaly. Again, that only serves to help Colby remain comfortable within himself and find his swing in an optimal setting.

And at the end of the day, finding himself is exactly what Colby Rasmus is doing in Houston. On a one-year, $8 million contract, Rasmus has an opportunity to rebuild his value and hit the free agent market again after the 2015 season at the age of 29, and hopefully with a year of fulfilled potential in his pocket.