Even though the White Sox own the majors’ worst record (9-26), first baseman Jose Abreu tells Scott Merkin of MLB.com that he supports Chicago’s rebuilding effort and would like to remain with the team for the rest of his career. “Of course, there is not any doubt about it,” the 31-year-old said through an interpreter. “My mom and dad, they taught me to always be grateful, and I’m really grateful for this organization because of all the things they have done for me and the opportunities they gave me.” The White Sox are the only major league franchise Abreu has known since emigrating from Cuba in 2013 for a six-year, $68MM guarantee. Since then, not only has Abreu delivered positive on-field results for the Sox, but he has emerged as a key leader for the young team, according to vice president Ken Williams. “He’s like having an extra coach on hand,” said Williams. “I cannot overstate the quality person that he is. I hope he really hears and understands how we feel about him.” If the White Sox continue to elect against trading Abreu, they’ll soon have a decision to make on whether to extend him. Although Abreu only has one more year of arbitration eligibility left after the current season, Merkin suggests there haven’t been contract talks between him and the club.
More from the game’s Central divisions…
- Twins right-hander Ervin Santana seems to be progressing toward his 2018 debut. Santana, out since undergoing finger surgery in February, is slated to make his first rehab start May 26, Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press tweets. It’ll be a four-inning, 60-pitch appearance for Santana. Before that, he’ll throw live batting practice Monday and then make an extended spring training start May 21. Meanwhile, catcher Jason Castro will head to Colorado for a second opinion on his injured right knee, Berardino adds. Castro went on the disabled list last weekend with a torn meniscus.
- The Cardinals have activated left-handed reliever Brett Cecil from the disabled list and placed fellow southpaw Tyler Lyons on the DL with a mild back strain, per Joe Trezza of MLB.com. Cecil only made one appearance this year, on Opening Day (March 29), before landing on the shelf with shoulder soreness. Cecil, who’s in the second season of the four-year, $30.5MM deal he signed with the Cards in November 2016, logged a 3.88 ERA with 8.82 K/9 against 2.14 BB/9 across 67 1/3 innings in 2017. Lyons was also an effective piece of the Redbirds’ bullpen last year, though he began this season with an ugly ERA (6.17) in 11 2/3 frames prior to his DL placement.
- Veteran reliever Louis Coleman is back in the majors after the Tigers selected his contract Saturday, though he may not be in this position if not for his college coach, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com relays. A “frustrated” Coleman was unable to find a job in the offseason until he spoke with Paul Mainieri, whom he played under at LSU, a couple weeks before spring training began. Mainieri then called his friend, Tigers general manager Al Avila, who signed Coleman to a minors pact Feb. 23. “I guess they had an opening (in spring training), I don’t know. But if it wasn’t for coach and Al, I don’t know if we’d be standing here,” said the 32-year-old Coleman, who recorded a 2.40 ERA in 15 Triple-A innings before his promotion.
- Royals minor league outfielder Bubba Starling could miss upward of a month with an oblique strain, Rustin Dodd of The Athletic tweets. As Dodd notes, oblique strains have been a consistent problem for Starling, a former top prospect who still hasn’t gotten to the majors since the Royals chose him fifth overall in the 2011 draft. The 25-year-old struggled to produce at Triple-A this season before his injury, evidenced by a .257/.350/.314 line and no home runs in 41 plate appearances, though he did draw five walks against just six strikeouts.
It’s been no secret that I have been a proponent of the White Sox retaining Jose Abreu with a contract extension beyond his 2019 walk season. It’s also no secret that any rebuilding team needs a couple of proven veterans on it’s roster when they transition to contending status. So it makes absolute sense for the White Sox to keep Abreu for all that he’s done and all that he can continue to provide for a team he wants to remain with. Make it so, Jerry, Kenny and Rick!
No, that’s not why the White Sox kept Abreu at all. They kept him because the 1B market was awful for sellers and has been for a couple straight off-seasons. If they could have gotten a good return he’d be long gone. The rest is a cover story. Fact is he’ll be 33 or 34 by the time the White Sox hit competitiveness on their current pace, either seriously declined (he’s already inching toward DH-dom now) or on a different team.
I’ll put 50/50 odds he’s on the Rockies, who were second in the bidding when he came over, by July 31.
They kept him the reasons stated by Aaron. They would to be blown away by an offer to move him. It would have to a sale or Eaton like package to move him. What he provides to the team as a mentor is invaluable to the team.
Which of course isn’t likely to happen because of the reason stated by both seamaholic and yourself lol
Btw-I never have stated that the White Sox should keep Abreu at any cost. If they were blown away with an offer comparable to what they received for Sale, Eaton or Quintana the trade would have my blessing along with the majority of White Sox fans. That’s not likely and without such a deal Abreu has more value to the White Sox above and beyond his production at the plate.
Can they just try and make a game of it against the Cubs tomorrow.
They nearly did today after staking the Cubs to an early 5-0 advantage after two innings and then trailing 8-1 at the end of 7. Abreu represented the tying run at the plate in the 9th and the Cubs had to actually call on their closer Brandon Morrow to save the 8-4 victory.
Why does it matter? There are maybe 5-7 players available to play right now that you will see on the team in 2 years, and none of them will be all that important of pieces. Be patient.
Hopefully SS Tim Anderson will be the one exception to your comment among the position players. Let’s also hope that at least one of Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and Carson Fulmer will be a part of the White Sox core rotation going forward. Lopez and Fulmer might also have key roles at the backend of the future White Sox bullpen. Two others currently on the disabled list also figure to be key components, Yoan Moncada and Carlos Rodon. And of course, there is also my amigo, Jose Abreu. lol
The way I see it, the only position players that have a chance to be contributors going forward are Abreu, Anderson, Yolmer, and maybe Davidson. On the pitching side, I’ll say Giolito and Lopez will still be around. Then maybe a couple bullpen guys like Fry, Bummer, and hopefully Rondon (if Coop can continue fixing him). So that’s 9 guys, and some of them may be a stretch. Outside of that, good riddance everybody.
*Moncada and Rodon will obviously still be here if/when healthy
Obviously, Abreu is worth every penny he’s being paid (and then some), but his value is far better if they can move him. If the White Sox are interested in a guy who is “an extra coach on hand”, I’m sure they could find multiple options among the journeymen still looking for MLB contracts.
If they are keeping him on that club simply because of his clubhouse presence, they are making a bad decision. They ought to trade him this season and rebuild.
Jose Abreu’s value to other teams is the million dollar question right now and because of his worth to the White Sox their front office won’t move him for anything even approaching market value.
The White Sox have already been in rebuild mode since the 2016 trade deadline when they began fielding offers for their top veteran assets. Two of their highest valued ones were traded the following December at the winter meetings and most of the rest were dealt by last summer. Abreu, along with a currently disabled Avisail Garcia are they only two left with even a hint of value and each can walk after the 2019 season.
As I stated before, all rebuilding teams will need at least a couple of veterans on their club to help in the transition to contention so why wouldn’t the White Spx consider extending a player like Abreu when other clubs will be less inclined to pay for the intangible value he already gives to the White Sox and can continue to provide in the coming years?
Exactly. The White Sox certainly won’t be competitive this year, and very likely won’t be competitive next year. Those are the only two years of team control on Abreu. He is the one last option to bring back a significant return of young talent, and a team in the White Sox’s position definitely should be trading veterans for youth when the opportunity presents itself.
By your estimation then you would expect the White Sox to become relevant by 2020 when they will then need to supplement their club with some veteran presence.
In fact, the Cubs actually added veteran starter Jon Lester and traded for CF Dexter Fowler following a 5th place, 89 loss season in 2014. Along with the graduation to the big leagues of prospects such as Kris Bryant, Addison Russell and Kyle Schwarber the Cubs expedited their progress and earned a wild card birth with a 97 win season in 2015.
The following offseason the Cubs continued to add veterans like Jason Heyward (ouch!) and Ben Zobrist and the net result was their first world Series title in 108 years.
Bottom line: The White Sox can have a similar progression to what the Cubs achieved, especially in a much weaker AL Central than what the Cubs faced with strong Cardinal and Pirate teams in the NL Central. Jose Abreu does not have the market value of Chris Sale, Adam Eaton and Jose Quintana so my point is to extend him now and make him part of the White Sox core. In my estimation this is a better scenario than having to go out and likely overpay for the veteran presence they will need to support most of their elite young talent who figure to be on the club by 2020. They know what they have in Abreu and would be better served to lock him up unless they can max out on another trade which is highly unlikely for a 1B/DH type with limited team control.
If the feeling is so mutual, flip him for assets and sign him back as a FA to be an impact player in the clubhouse/on the field when they are finally ready to compete.
That’s always a possibility but the market isn’t there for the White Sox to be blown away with a trade. Without such a deal they are better off keeping Abreu with a player like Yoan Moncada already on the roster, Eloy Jimenez knocking on the door and Luis Robert likely to follow before the slugging first baseman can hit free agency following the 2019 season. The White Sox would also have a better opportunity to extract yet another team friendly contract extension with Abreu now or in the upcoming offseason before he actually hits the open market.
Aside from his production and mentoring, Abreu was also a helpful recruiter for the White Sox in the pursuit of fellow Cuban defector Robert last summer as a highly sought international free agent. He might also provide assistance to the White Sox this offseason if 82 year-old owner Jerry Reinsdorf decides to open his wallet in the pursuit of a major FA before he sells the team and rides off into the Arizona sunset for good.
I agree. The Sox could send him and a bullpen arm (playoff teams always need to add, maybe Nate Jones if he can pitch better between now and then) to Colorado for Carlos Gonzalez (who the Sox will flip by the deadline for a prospect), Colton Welker & Ben Bowden. Sox need a young 3B since you can’t count on Jake Burger to return to form. Welker will be a stud. He’s blocked at 3B in Colorado. Bowden is a bullpen piece to Sox can desperately use. Trading CarGo will offset some salary for the Rockies. Rockies will platoon Parra/Desmond in LF and Dahl/Tapia in RF. Abreu will stay with Colorado until the end of next season. By then Brian Mundell will be ready to take over 1B for the Rockies. And like you said, Abreu could always come back to Chicago as a FA and have him DH & backup at 1B (Gavin Sheets maybe will be the 1B of the future).
I went to the White Sox game in Oakland a few weeks ago and saw Abreu working at third. Of course I’ve seen pitchers take ground balls just for fun, but is Abreu making a Freddie Freeman move? Not sure why, maybe versatility, or just for fun. Either way, I’m pretty sure he’s a few years away from DH.
Abreu can barely handle 1B adequately. He doesn’t have the quickness, range or arm to handle the hot corner.
Jose is a top notch hitter who does better in warm weather. He is class act, a team leader and he definitely wants to remain with the pale hose. He is not untouchable, but I want the Sox to extend this guy and have him help out the young guys coming up.
I’m a big fan of Jose and wanted the Yankees to trade for him.
Bubba Starling is a bust.