Chicago White Sox: Jose Abreu Opts Out of Contract, Into Arbitration

Chicago White Sox slugger Jose Abreu opted out of the remaining three years of his contract with the White Sox on Monday afternoon, making the Cuban native arbitration eligible through 2019.

When Jose Abreu signed his first Major League Baseball contract with the Chicago White Sox back in the winter before the 2014 season, the Cuban-born slugger was given an opt-out clause after his third season that would allow him to become arbitration eligible for the remaining three years of his deal, much like a traditional MLB rookie.

On Monday afternoon, Abreu exercised that opt-out clause, making him arbitration eligible this offseason. Abreu was set to make $34 million over the next three seasons on the remainder of his original contract, barring a trade from the club in their impending rebuild.

Abreu’s original deal that he signed before the 2014 season was worth $68 million over six seasons, a bargain at the time for the production that scouts believed Abreu was capable of once he transitioned to Major League Baseball.

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Abreu hit .293 with 25 home runs and 100 RBI in 2016 for the White Sox, giving him a total of 91 home runs and 308 RBI with a cumulative batting average of .299 over the course of his first three seasons with the team. Abreu, 30, burst onto the major league scene with the White Sox in 2014 when he posted a .317 batting average with 37 home runs and 107 RBI, en route to winning the American League Rookie of the Year Award and finishing fourth in the American League Most Valuable Player Award voting.

Abreu has not matched his rookie campaign’s production the last two seasons, but he has still been a reliable source of offensive production at first base for the White Sox in 2015 and 2016. Abreu’s name has been mentioned as one of the pieces that the White Sox would attempt to move if and when they began their potential rebuild this winter.

White Sox General Manager Rick Hahn spoke briefly about the impending decision from Abreu last week at the GM Meetings, simply saying,

“That’s the choice he has to make: Do I want the guaranteed money or do I want to go year-to-year through arbitration?” Hahn said Wednesday at the GM meetings in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Hahn didn’t seem too worried about the slugging first baseman opting out of his remaining deal when he spoke about it last week, having this to say about the financial aspect of the deal:

“He’s controlled for the next three years regardless,” Hahn said. “It’s whether he’s going to maintain the final three years of his contract or go year to year through arbitration. From a control standpoint, it’s no different. From a compensation standpoint, it could fluctuate.”

The White Sox do indeed still hold club control over Abreu for the next three seasons, but rather than paying him the $34 million he would have made had he chose not to opt into becoming arbitration eligible, the White Sox may end up paying much more for Abreu in years five and six of the contract.

It’s possible that Abreu as a fourth-year major league player will receive less than the roughly $11 million that he was owed in his original contract through arbitration this winter, but he is definitely banking on sustained or increased production netting him larger paydays in years five and six. That is, if the White Sox don’t move him in the next year.

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Basically, Abreu is doing what Jimmy Butler did a few years ago with the Chicago Bulls, and virtually betting on his own production to snag a larger payday down the line. The concern with that is, of course, injuries and a decline in production.

If Abreu begins to decline production-wise, or starts to face nagging injuries, the White Sox now have the option to non-tender him after his fourth and fifth seasons. Only time will tell whether Abreu’s gamble on his merits will pay off for him, or if he is even around to see it on the south side of Chicago.

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