White Sox: Possible Landing Spots for Jose Abreu
By Joe Piazza
After years of near-contention, the Chicago White Sox finally threw in the towel and committed to a rebuild. This started with the blockbuster trades of Chris Sale and Adam Eaton. Now we are enamored with trade rumors surrounding Jose Quintana, David Robertson and Jose Abreu.
Several teams are in need of a right-handed slugger at the moment, so Abreu’s days in Chicago appear numbered.
Of all the hitters to come over from Cuba in recent years, Jose Abreu may have been the most polished. Through his first three seasons in the U.S., he’s hit .299/.360/.515 with 91 homers and 101 doubles. That production has been good for 12.1 bWAR and 9.9 fWAR, so he’s averaged somewhere between three and four wins per year. Of the recent crop of Cuban stars, only Yasiel Puig has come close to matching Abreu’s level of play in his first three seasons (11.3 bWAR, 11 fWAR).
Many could gain from having a .290 hitter that can slug 25+ home runs, and teams that lost out in the Edwin Encarnacion sweepstakes will now be looking elsewhere for right-handed power. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe recently mentioned that Jose Abreu is receiving interest from teams. While he didn’t specify who, he did make it clear that he’s drawn more attention than third baseman Todd Frazier, another slugging righty on the ChiSox. The Jose Abreu rumor mill has been pretty quiet lately, so this list will include some speculation.