The Astros have shown interest in White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Abreu carries a stronger track record than Houston first baseman Yuli Gurriel and designated hitter Evan Gattis, either of whom could lose playing time to Abreu if the reigning world champs acquire him. However, in 2018, both Gurriel and Gattis have offered superior production to Abreu, a fellow right-handed hitter who has batted a disappointing .260/.316/.451 through 373 plate appearances. The 31-year-old Abreu also carries a high price tag, as he’s on a $13MM salary this season and should land a raise over that figure next winter during his final trip through arbitration. But despite the veteran’s cost and the fact that the White Sox are rebuilding, they have thus far been unwilling to move Abreu, an important mentor to their array of young players.
Here’s more from Cafardo:
- The Nationals recently sent special assistant Dan Jennings to watch Rays catcher Wilson Ramos, Cafardo reports. The Nationals are already familiar with Ramos, who played with the team from 2010-16, and the pending free agent figures to end up with either them or another club by the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. After a mediocre 2017, the 30-year-old Ramos has rebuilt his stock with a .287/.338/.460 line in 293 PAs. Those numbers are far better than the production Nationals catchers have offered. Washington’s backstops have combined to hit a league-worst .185/.278/.265 in 338 trips to the plate, thus contributing to the team’s five-game deficit in the NL East.
- The Athletics are suggesting to teams that closer Blake Treinen isn’t available for trade, though clubs are wondering if that’s just a ploy to drive up his price, per Cafardo. If the A’s expect to push for a playoff spot this year and next, they may well keep Treinen, who’s under control through 2019 for affordable prices. Treinen has been an integral part of this year’s Oakland team, which is a solid 48-40 and sits 7 1/2 games back of a wild-card spot. Across 42 2/3 innings, Treinen has logged a near-spotless ERA (.84) with 10.97 K/9, 2.53 BB/9 and 22 saves in 24 opportunities.
- Unsurprisingly, the Orioles “would love” to land Indians catcher Francisco Mejia in a potential Manny Machado trade, Cafardo writes. Cleveland has reportedly shown strong interest in Machado, though it’s unknown if the Tribe would be willing to give up Mejia at all – let alone for a rental. The 22-year-old Mejia ranks as the Indians’ top farmhand in the estimation of MLB.com and Baseball America, both of which regard him as one of the game’s 25 best prospects.
- More on Machado, who could wind up in a package with teammate and fellow free agent-to-be Zach Britton, Cafardo hears. As an accomplished reliever, Britton may be a fit for Cleveland, whose bullpen has been among the majors’ weakest this year. It’s unclear how much trade value Britton has, though, given that he fell off somewhat last year after an incredible 2016 and hasn’t been good this season in his first action since suffering a ruptured Achilles over the winter.
$13 million isn’t a high price tag these days.
For a mediocre first baseman it is
He is hitting .260 among his worst slump of his career. He is one of three players to start their professional careers with 3 years of 100+ RBI and 25+ HR. He was just voted to the All Star Game as the starting 1st baseman, the first in the White Sox organization to be voted in since Frank Thomas. Intelligent people know his worth, and realize he will be hitting those numbers again this year.
If you’re going to be condescending, don’t use batting average and all star selection as the crux of your argument.
Paul Konerko played 1B for the Sox and I’m pretty sure he was an all star.
And I’m pretty sure Paulie never started one.
A’s should hold. The Mariners aren’t out of reach here in early July.
agreed
Where would Manny play in Cleveland? Common sense tells me that Kipnis and his terrible contract have to be associated with a deal as well.
According to what I’ve read, Manny would play 3rd and Ramirez moves to 2nd. Kipnis would be a 4th outfielder. The O’s aren’t taking Kipnis unless the Indians eat part of the contract. Manny and Britton would give Cleveland more of a legit shot to get to the series again.
Manny ain’t playing third.
Manny’s not moving Lindor off shortstop. If he’s a winning player, he’ll play where he’s needed.
Manny wants to play short and has repeat that many times. An unhappy or angry Manny is not going to help you win.
Or want to re-sign
There is absolutely no way they re-sign him. There’s no way they would come up with the money necessary to offer him a huge contract. Mejia could be had for the right price, but not for the short term rental. Mejia is definitely available, however it would probably be for a high-end reliever with a controllable contract.
And a pouting, slumping Manny won’t get paid. He’ll play third if he has to.
He’s getting paid regardless
Manny said in an interview with Gary Thorne on Thursday that he’s willing to move back to 3rd for a contender.
Zach Britton has been garbage, how is he helping the Indian’s this year? Are you just assuming that he goes back to 2016 Britton?
Britton didn’t have a spring training due to the Achilles injury. He’s essentially in Sprjng Training right now building up innings and arm strength. At this age he should be a solid bet to return to form.
Kip’s turning it around at the plate…but his defense has been, and continues to be, atrocious.
Atrocious? You’re being way too kind. Wish they’d just play Erik Gonzalez more, and Kip less.
Same here. I actually really like Gonzalez.
I don’t think CLE will trade Mejia for even 2 rentals. They’d only deal him for a shit down reliever with multiple years of control. Tribe would love to ship Kipnis elsewhere, but their best hope for that at this point is to swap him for another bad contract. He cannot be used in the OF or 3B because his arm is extraordinarily weak. Every throw from the OF is a rainbow.
Tito’s comments about him today make me wonder if they’re starting to get tired of him. I’m probably reading too much into it and they wouldn’t trade him unless they got someone good, but I don’t think he’s untouchable by any means either.
…what’d Tito say? He makes at least 2-3 costly fielding mistakes a game. The injuries really robbed him of his lateral speed, quickness, and strength.
No, I’m talking about Mejia. Tito basically said that his transition to the outfield isn’t going as well as they hoped, and seemed to imply that he isn’t buying into being anything other than a catcher.
Reminds me of when Philly had RyanHoward crushing MiLB pitching but had Thome at 1B. The Phillies tried to get Howard to play LF but the lazy slouch said no I’m a 1B…yeah a MiLB 1B when you could be a starting LF in the majors. Eventually Thome was moved; there’s something to be said for a team player that would take a glove anywhere in the field then pout and ride the buses.
Abreu for Tucker.
No
LOL
You need to set your sights lower. Derek Fisher, A.J. Reed, and other MLB-ready guys who have become superfluous to the Astros but represent good value to other teams should be your targets in a Jose Abreu trade. Simply put, Abreu isn’t going to fetch you a current top-100 prospect, but he may fetch you a former top-100 prospect like those guys.
Treinen’s actually controllable through the 2020 season
Which is the kind of guy Cleveland would target and would reluctantly include a stud like Mejia in the package.
No good reason for the Astros to trade for Abreu. Maybe if Gattis or Yuli we’re struggling, but those two have been tearing the cover off the ball the past two months. Add a reliever or stand pat.
Unless the A’s get a huge offer, they should keep everyone except maybe Jed (I love Jed but eventually Barreto needs to play) because they’re competing with a paper thin and injury ridden starting staff.
Cafardo is fake news. Abreu to the Astros make zero sense. He just makes things up for clicks.
Agree that Cafardo is a clown
Billy Beane won’t give up Treinen unless the A’s are overwhelmed besides Oakland is sitting 6 1/2 games from the 2nd wildcats currently held by Seattle. Not an easy trade scenario…
I would hope that the A’s keep Treinen as he is solid. I think they have a good closer option in Trevino as well but I like the A’s having a good setup guy.
There is little doubt that White Sox GM Rick Hahn will be seeking one of the Astros top-two prospects in OF Kyle Tucker or RHP Forrest Whitley. So perhaps a reason for Tucker’s promotion on Friday was to showcase him at the big league level for the White Sox in Houston.
So my earlier trade proposal of southpaw reliever Luis Avilan for 1B A.J. Reed can take on even more significance and become a bigger blockbuster with Abreu potentially going to the Astros and Tucker heading to the South Side. Reed then becomes the White Sox first baseman replacing Abreu while Tucker steps into LF until Eloy Jimenez makes his MLB debut. Tucker would then become the White Sox future fixture in RF as soon as Avisail Garcia is dealt later this month of during the coming offseason. The White Sox OF would look mighty good come 2020 with Jimenez, Luis Robert and Tucker in LF/CF/RF.
Meanwhile, the Astros would pretty much hold the undisputed claim of MLB’s best offense for at least the next two seasons with Abreu and fellow Cuban Yuli Gurriel splitting 1B/DH duties, with perhaps the latter playing some OF until Evan Gattis bolts for free agency this offseason. Maybe the Astros would also have an interest in acquiring Garcia for themselves and make this truly one of MLB’s biggest blockbusters in recent memory.
I don’t like the Astros at all…let me just make that clear. But there’s not a snowball’s chance that they’d trade Tucker or Whitley for Abreu; he’s not the hitter he used to be, and he doesn’t really fill a need either. They really don’t have any needs at all anyway, so if anything I’d expect them to just add a reliever and roll with the guys that won it all last year.
Judging from the failed past attempts at completing a significant trade between the organizations I would concur with your thinking. I’m just pointing out the perspective of the White Sox who have insisted AND have received top prospects in every trade they have made with their impacting veterans that included Chris Sale to the Red Sox, Adam Eaton to the Nationals and Jose Quintana to the Cubs.
The Astros might not bite (yet again) but Rick Hahn will get someone to pony up for Abreu, that or just sign him to a contract extension where he can remain a part of the team’s future core at 1B/DH.
Btw-Aside from his historic rookie campaign, Jose Abreu has been a better second half hitter for the White Sox. Their Cuban slugger warms up with the summer heat in Chicago. He will more than likely continue his streak of 25+ HR’s and 100+ RBI’s in 2018. If he was traded to the Astros, that likelihood would be a virtual guarantee with their lineup and could make Abreu’s production even more prolific through a postseason he has never experienced on the South Side of Chicago.
Those guys all had cheap long-term contracts that really helped their value, plus Sale and Quintana are starting pitchers and the Nationals planned to play Eaton in center when they first got him — so basically, they were each important positions.
Abreu is a first baseman only and has much less club control at higher salaries, so there probably wouldn’t be as much interest in him even if he was having a better year. I’d imagine the White Sox just think that keeping him is worth more than whatever they’d get in a trade. If they could get top value for him, he’d probably have been traded a while ago.
Again, I cannot dispute what you are saying. I am only pointing out the thinking of Rick Hahn who would ask for the moon with Abreu as he has done with his other veterans. Clearly Abreu doesn’t have the team control or play a premium position but what can’t be disputed is his offensive production in his first 4-1/2 seasons with the White Sox.
Hahn is also putting an intangible value on Abreu that most teams won’t be willing to meet. That value will likely result in a contract extension for Abreu who wants to remain in Chicago and see this rebuild through to it’s completion. If Abreu does get dealt it will be on Hahn’s terms.
The possibility also exists that Abreu can be traded and still return to Chicago as a FA following his last arbitration eligible season in 2019. That ultimately might be the the best scenario for the White Sox anyway since nobody expects them to contend in the AL Central any sooner than 2020.
The trade made by the Red Sox, Cubs, and Nationals either fit a true need or high end upgrade. At least 2 of 3 had amazing team friendly contracts. It’s ridiculous to think a specific return of Tucker or Whitley would be gained for Abreu. To split time at first? What does Abreu‘s track record look like in postseason play? The entire senecio is absurd.
Maybe that’s the reason Abreu continues to be the White Sox first baseman and is losing value every single day. He’s a 31 year old bat only 1B who has a 108 wRC+ and < 0.5 WAR while earning over $20 million over the next 1 1/2 seasons.
If you want to look at what little value corner players have these days look no further than someone like Corey Dickerson. This offseason he was a 29 year old average defensive LF coming off of a 2.5 WAR, 115 wRC+ season and earning $6 million for his arb2 season and still had 2 seasons of control. The Rays basically paid the majority of his salary and only got back a low level org 25-35 type prospect. Moustakis is another example of how little these guys are currently being valued. He had to settle for a 1/$6.5mm in the offseason. Another player is C.J. Cron. The Rays got him on a 1/$2.3 mm contract with 2 more arb seasons for a PTBNL. Two seasons ago Chris Carter was coming off of a 41 HR, 112 wRC+ season and he was non tendered before settling on a 1/$3.5 million deal with the Yankees. The idea that the White Sox will be able to get any teams top prospects, let alone top 25 in all of MLB is laughable.
Plus hitting in astros home park, more of his fly balls in other parks will be HR at home
Well said
Laughable you throw Chris Carter in a Abreu argument. I do get your point though
Tucker was called up because he is hitting really well and Marisnick has a garbage bat. Right now Abreu isn’t even an upgrade over Yuli or Gattis, so why would they trade the same bat they’ve kept untouchable for a downgrade at 1st?
Good question, maybe one that should directed at Nick Cafardo who started this rumor that MLB Trade Rumors was only too happy to share, bless their baseball loving hearts.
Cafardo never said anything about trading Tucker or Whitley for Abreu. This isn’t the first time Luhnow has been interested in Abreu, so that isn’t shocking, it’s the idea that the price would be one of those 2
It’s only “shocking” to Astros fans, not to White Sox fans who expect Rick Hahn to pry a top-1oo talent or more for Abreu regardless of what team he deals with. Kyle Tucker was only a part of the Jose Quintana discussion. The Astros said no to whatever final package was being discussed and the White Sox instead turned to the crosstown Cubs and received their top-two prospects in Eloy Jimenez and Dylan Cease, each top-100 talents with the former easily being in the the top-10 of all MLB prospects when the trade was consummated last July.
Ultimately it worked out well for the Astros who went on to acquire Justin Verlander for less talent and more salary obligations and concluded the 2017 season with their first World Series title. The White Sox arguably received their best package of talent for “Q”, perhaps even surpassing the haul of prospects for Chris Sale and Adam Eaton when all is said and done.
Quintana is irrelevant in this discussion though. He was a good young pitcher at a position of need with 3.5 cheap years left on his contract, so that is why he was worth a lot. Abreu isn’t old, but he’s not young, only has 1 year left after this season, and he’s hitting worse than the current options. Why would the Astros trade Tucker or Whitley for that? Tucker fills in the position that they actually need, LF, and Whitley fills in the position they’re going to need very soon when 4/5ths of the rotation is a FA after next year. So even if Tucker was available for Quintana, his value is very different than Abreu to the Astros at the moment
Astros have no reason to trade for Abreu. Yuli and Gattis are both outperforming him and Yordan Alvarez is on the horizon.
As are several more that can hit.
We all got deuped and clicked on this garbage rumor. Gattis is an electric DH right now with 61 RBIs before the AllStar Break. Yuli is batting a little over .300. This Abreu rumor was pulled out of the writers ass and we had to click on it because we are all foaming at the mouth waiting for the Astros to make a move.
Yuli leads league in BA with runners in scoring position and Gattis after a slow start is driving in runs left and right (literally against lefties and righties). 1B and DH are set. The MarGo experience in LF everday has played out. Once Correa returns Margo sees spot OF/IF duty. Hence the call up of Tucker to see what he can do in a short window before deadline to determine IF they need to make a deal for another OF’er.
Need a closer!
I would love to have the “Buffalo” back home in DC. I really miss him. I think there are many fans would love to see h im back + would welcome him back with open arms + virtual hugs.❤
Abreu’s intangibles (great team mate and mentor to younger players) also make him a great player as much as his stats. I’m sure many Astro’s fans, with their stat books, also railed against Verlander going there until he caught on fire and help them see a WS win.
When you are on a bad club you tend to try to outperform yourself or-worse yet- lose motivation, I’m sure that was occurring with Verlander, and is likely occurring with Abreu now. He has admitted to trying to make something happen in games by being agreesive in his pitch selection and therefore swinging at bad pitches. Based on this, I think you can throw many stats out the door in a lot of instances, at least for this season. His fielding has improved as well despite any ‘lack of bat’.
In any case, Abreu is either worth it to the org, or he is not. It doesn’t matter what any fan boys, with their stat sheets, think. Hahn will likely ask for dear for Abreu, the other team will counter with what they think he is worth (or less). They either meeting in the middle to make a deal or don’t. I have no issues with Abreu staying as a White Sox as he has been great for his team, his team mates, and the City of Chicago. He is a class act and a hard worker and a great ball player.
Excellent comment.
It should also be pointed out that Abreu has been dealing with some nagging injuries including a brutal foul ball off of his foot the other day. He typically plays through these sorts of issues and generally has to be pulled from action or given a few days off by the manager since he is a gamer and wants to remain in the lineup.
Abreu is as good a team leader as the White Sox have had in their history, a team I have followed religiously since the early 1960’s. This is especially remarkable since Abreu is still trying to master the English language. I loved Frankl Thomas as a hitter but he didn’t bring nearly as much to the clubhouse as fellow first baseman Abreu or Paul Konerko have done on the South Side.
Except Astros fans wanted Verlander before the original all-star break because we needed an ace. Astros dont need a slumping first baseman/DH. Get over it.
Abreu isn’t going to bring enough back for Hahn to deal. Good consistent hitter, poor defense and probably won’t/shouldn’t get more $ per year when he reaches FA at 33 (if you trust reported age). If he can get one very good but not elite prospect and a high floor/not spectacular 2nd piece, that’s high end of realistic return.
Jose Abreu could also be packaged with some other veteran assets to get a top-100 prospect back in a return. For instance, the White Sox have a couple of veteran relievers available in closer Joakim Soria and lefty specialist Luis Avilan. You might recall just last summer the White Sox packaged two rentals in 3B Todd Frazier and RP Tommy Kahnle along with closer David Robertson to the Yankees and wound up with a top-100 OF prospect in Blake Rutherford (#51).