The White Sox have hammered out a deal to avoid arbitration with veteran first baseman Jose Abreu, per Bruce Levine of 670thescore.com (via Twitter). Abreu will earn $16MM in his final season of arb eligibility.
That figure is a dead-on match for the $16MM that MLBTR and contributor Matt Swartz projected entering the offseason. It’s a redemptive day for the arb model, which had struggled to deal with a player who originally signed a large, guaranteed contract but opted out of it upon reaching his third year of service time.
Abreu, 31, wasn’t as productive last year as he had been in the past. Still, he was a well-above-average hitter, as he has been in his five seasons in the majors. All told, Abreu carries a .295/.353/.516 batting line with 146 home runs.
First!
Glad to see Jose in a Sox uniform when Manny arrives.
Fifteenth. Congrats.
Manny isn’t looking like a yankee after the past couple moves.. but the went and got Stanton without an actual need for him, so I wouldn’t put machado/Harper off the board for the Yankees till the day they sign elsewhere
DJ can easily be for the bench and Tulo can be cut without losing a dime. Never underestimate cashman
I already underestimate Cashman. The Yankees needed better pitching, not hitting.
You are underestimating the pitching
the pitching is trash bunch of number 3s and a very very unproven ace that has way to low of valleys to be considered an ace
“… without losing a dime“
… actually only about a nickle, in the parlance of modern MLB contracts.
I think that was the plan all along. Sign tulo to send the message “we don’t need manny” to drive down the price
12 million for a bench player?
“You are underestimating the pitching”
——————-
Their #1 has made it past the 4th inning 1 time in 7 playoffs starts… you’re overestimating it.
Manny may still go to Philly with Harper staying in Washington.
But us Sox fans can still hope and pray.
Sox fan here, hoping and praying Machado doesn’t come to the sox.
Well thank God he doesn’t listen to hopes and prayers.
Also a Sox fan praying Machado doesn’t sign with us. Madrigal is the legit leadoff man we haven’t had in over a decade, and he’s not far away. Meaning Moncada will likely need to shift to 3B. We need a stop gap, so a guy we can sign to a 2 or 3 year deal. Give me Moustakas.
The Yankees won’t pay Harper “shave your beard” money.
yanks are done…no machado or Harper..they put money else where
MANNY in New York today to sign contract. White Sox will sign Moose to play 3rd. And another mid to upper rotation pitcher after Manny puts name on Yznkees contrsct
Should have traded him 2 years ago
The dogs begin to bark
…… The hounds they begin to howl
I could see them resigning him at this point.
If you are so confident that they will be able to re-sign him they definitely should have traded him. Trade 3 years of him when they aren’t contending for a haul then bring him back when they are right on the cusp of contending.
Do you know what they were offered?
No but I can’t imagine it being less than the comp pick they will get for him in a year
Nice raise! Not a regular worker on a $15 an hour salary rate for sure lol…
Can’t imagine a chisox fan that finds a problem with this. We are at least three years away from anything resembling competitive. Keep Abreau around as long as possible. Good influence on the up-and-comers.
Depends if they get Machado… you’d be surprised what replacing Yolmer Sanchez & Nicky Delmonico with Manny Machado & Eloy Jimenez can do for a team with a strong pen and lots of open payroll in a down division.
Here’s an allegory, imagine the Sox letting Konerko go after the ’04 season. They may not need Abreu for either bat or glove, but he’s become a team leader. He’s still a good player with potential to be great again. I like this deal, a lot actually. If it works and he helps them improve and he does lead the team, great. I don’t think they need MM or BH, but either could help, and if they do, suck it.
Abreu would benefit from a great hitter batting behind him.
.295 BA and 30+ HRs next season.
As long as Steverson is their hitting coach I think the Hitters are on their on to figure things out. Steverson has ruined 3-4 hitters in last few years. All came to SOX as sluggers & left screwed up or retiring. I dont think Moncada can or will advance much more with Steverson there. I’m sure Timmy figuring it out on his own. That kid has 30-30 potential & I’m afraid Steverson is hindering his progress. K’s go up every year just about since he been there.
If you have the magic formula for optimizing one’s hitting potential, then how much are pitchers paying you to keep quiet?
Him being a team leader isn’t going to make the White Sox play any better beyond the 2019 season
They can always have Yolmer pour Gatorade on his on head after Palka hits a solo bomb when Sox are down by 8 in the 9th. I always enjoy the celebration after nonsensical things like doing your job. I’d love to see Manny swinging the stick at GRF every home game. We actually need a player of his caliber when things are coming together in next couple years or sooner. But I’m afraid it’s the Yankees or the “unknown” surprise team. Leaning to Yankees
That certainly is one way to look at it.
Or you could understand that these players aren’t robots, and having a high-level/high-class professional there to show the young guys the ropes might have a giant effect on their game (and potentially their lives for young guys like Moncada/Eloy/Robert that aren’t from the US). But hey, maybe it’ll make absolutely no difference.
Side note – didn’t Hosmer get paid ~$150M to be a good clubhouse guy and/or team cheerleader for the Padres? He certainly didn’t get that for his play, so maybe, just maybe, there are other things that teams factor into their decisions…
Yes and what is going to happen to all those young foreign players in 2020 when Abreu is no longer around to “show them the ropes” or whatever?
And on Hosmer, who actually thinks that that signing was worth it? How is it looking now?