jose altuve comes from a sensational year 2022, in which he was crowned champion of the World Series with the Houston Astros, after beating the Atlanta Braves in six games. Altuve had a sensational regular season, hitting .300/.387/.533 with 28 homers and 57 RBIs, making 2022 a memorable one for him.
After the season, Altuve has been spending a lot of time in Venezuela with family and friends, mainly to rest, but also to seek a permit from the Houston Astros that would allow him to play for the Navegantes del Magallanes in the LVBP.
‘The truth is, if we expected more players from the system to become uniform with the #Magellan this season. Also to the benefit of some like José Altuve, he unfortunately did not receive permission from the owner of the Houston Astros.’ Luis Blasini to @tuzonaturca.
— Geoff I. Hernandez R. (@GeoffHernandez) January 2, 2023
Although Altuve always showed his desire to play, the player had already expressed that OFAC and MLB’s delay in enabling Magallanes to use MLB pieces could complicate the process of obtaining authorization from the Houston Astros.
Yesterday, prior to Magallanes’ debut in the Round Robin, manager Luis Blasini confirmed in a Twitter podcast (Turkish Zone) that José Altuve will not be able to play with the Navegantes del Magallanes, because the owner of the Astros does not granted permission to play.
Altuve will probably continue in Venezuela for the next few days, however, the enthusiasm of the Magellan fans to see him in uniform will have to wait until the next occasion.