Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Jose Abreu Turned Down Offer From White Sox 

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Jose Abreu was a hot commodity in free agency. He had many teams vying for his services, including the Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Guardians, and Miami Marlins. Cleveland Guardians beat writer Paul Hoynes reported that the Guardians also offered Abreu a three-year contract.

Ultimately Abreu opted to go to Houston for three years and $60 million. With the Astros, he will have a legitimate shot at a World Series title for the first time in his career. 

Many had assumed that the White Sox would move on from Abreu in favor of Andrew Vaughn. General manager Rick Hahn’s comments during the GM Meeting earlier in the month seemed to reinforce this. 

“If he’s not with us next year, he’ll be missed,” Hahn said. “It’s good that we’re insulated from a production standpoint against that departure. 

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“But certainly never would disrespect the importance that he’s meant to this organization.” 

All signs pointed to the White Sox going in a different direction. However, during his introductory press conference, Abreu revealed that the White Sox did make a respectful offer, just not a formal one.

“My grandfather always told me to give that kind of respect. Yes, the White Sox made me an offer,” Abreu told reporters. “Not a formal one, but yes, an offer was made, and well, that is that. Only God knows why he does what he does.”

Abreu had once said that if the White Sox didn’t sign him, he would sign himself. It only took three years of losing and organizational dysfunction for a change of heart. 

In Houston, he will be surrounded by a lineup of battle-tested champions. Jose Altuve, Jeremy Pena, Yordon Alvarez, Kyle Tucker, and Alex Bregman will provide him with more lineup protection than he would ever have in Chicago. 

Here is his new lineup with their 2022 slash lines. 

1) 2B Jose Altuve .300/.387/.533

2) SS Jeremy Pena .253/.289/.426

3) LF Yordan Alvarez .306/.406/.613

4) 1B Jose Abreu .304/.378/.446

5) RF Kyle Tucker .257/.330/.478

6) 3B Alex Bregman .259/.366/.454

7) DH David Hensley .345/.441/.586

8) CF Chas McCormick .245/.332/.407

9) C Martin Maldonado .186/.248/.352

Here is what the projected White Sox lineup looks like with their 2022 slash lines: 

1) SS Tim Anderson .301/.339/.395

2) 3B Yoan Moncada .212/.273/.353

3) CF Luis Robert .284/.319/.426

4) LF Eloy Jimenez .295/.358/.500

5) 1B Andrew Vaughn .271/.321/.429

6) DH Gavin Sheets .241/.295/.411

7.) C Yasmani Grandal .202/.301/.269

8.) Oscar Colas 

9.) 2B Romy Gonzalez .238/.257/.352

Notice the difference in slugging percentages. with his new squad, the 36-year-old may be set up for a career year. He remains in a hitter-friendly park and will avoid the cold Chicago spring weather by going to Houston. Abreu hated playing in the cold. During his nine-year career, he produced his worst splits in April. 

While losing a former MVP is a tough pill to swallow, it is hard not to be happy for Abreu. During his nine years with the White Sox, he slashed .292/.354/.506. His 243 home runs are the third most in franchise history behind only Frank Thomas and Paul Konerko. 

He was named to three All-Star teams, won three Silver Slugger Awards, and was named American League MVP in 2020. He also collected 1,445 hits and 863 RBIs, blasting 25 plus home runs six times. Nobody on the South Side will ever wear the number 79 upon his retirement. He will likely receive a statue as well. 

White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf expressed his disappointment in losing the face of the franchise in a statement on Tuesday.

“Jose Abreu deservedly belongs among the roster of White Sox franchise all-time greats. His determination and commitment to the game each and every day made him the consummate professional, always leading by example. It was my fervent hope that Jose would never wear another uniform, as I told him many times throughout the years. Unfortunately, hope is not always translated into reality. While we ended up in different places in the business side of the game, Jose and I always shared the same love of baseball. I am grateful to Jose for his friendship and the impact he made for the White Sox franchise both on the field and in the community. I want to thank him for always representing the values of the White Sox organization and the great city of Chicago– strength, hard work, pride, and tenacity. His legacy is written in the White Sox record books forever.” 

Putting a competitive team around him would have helped Reinsdorf’s cause if they wanted to retain him. Abreu won just two playoff games during his time with the White Sox. There is a good chance he will win more games in the ALDS this season than he did in nine years in Chicago. 

4 COMMENTS

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Pito
Pito
Dec 2, 2022 6:16 pm

Hey Jerry, hope don’t pay the bills !

Anonymous
Anonymous
Nov 29, 2022 6:38 pm

Total pro! To continued success!

Doug
Doug
Nov 29, 2022 5:07 pm

What a great career move. He will have a monstrous year next year in that lineup. So happy for him.

Southside Mike
Southside Mike
Nov 29, 2022 2:04 pm

A heartfelt but ultimately hollow statement from our owner. If Jerry executed his ownership responsibilities like Abreu executed his player responsibilities, we’d have won at least one title during Jose’s tenure with the Sox. If we show up on opening day with the lineup presented above we’ll be lucky to finish third in the division.

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