Outside of who the next manager will be for the White Sox, the most important topic on most White Sox fans’ minds is the future of Jose Abreu on the South Side. After Rick Hahn was rather noncommital during his press conference on Monday, Abreu echoed fairly similar vague comments on his future with the White Sox this afternoon.
For starters, Abreu did make it clear that he is ready to play more baseball, stating that he loves the game more now than he did when he first started playing. This sort of refreshing clarity and certainty didn’t come out in his comments about his future with the White Sox. Abreu stated that, while he would like to return, he has not talked at all with the front office and will plan to take the offseason to rest and think about what comes next.
This tone, as most fans noticed, is drastically different than Abreu’s opinion that he would “sign himself” heading into the 2020 season with the White Sox.
“We’re going to be very good. if the White Sox don’t sign me, I’m going to sign here anyway. I’m going to sign myself here. I’m going to be here, believe me. I don’t want to miss this. I don’t want to miss what is coming.”
via Vinnie Duber/Twitter on July 9, 2019
As for White Sox fans, Abreu expressed extreme gratitude for the previous nine years – and did throw in a line about hoping there will be more years to come on the South Side.
“I want to thank them for all the support [and] for always having my back. These were a special nine years and I hope there can be more. But until now, it’s been very special. And I’m going to be forever grateful for them.”
– Jose Abreu (via translator Billy Russo)
With just two games left in the season, Abreu has turned in another quality season for the White Sox while battling injuries. Although he has hit just one home run in his last 54 games, Abreu is hitting .304/.378/.445 on the season, good for a 137 wRC+ and 3.9 fWAR.
Rick Hahn did previously allude to the same problem that most White Sox fans have identified with this roster: it’s going to be impossible to both improve the team’s defensive woes and have Eloy Jimenez, Abreu, and Andrew Vaughn all on the same roster. Tough decisions are going to need to be made this offseason, and that may involve unpopular decisions that see Abreu or Vaughn – or both – on different teams in 2023.
As more information is given in regard to Abreu’s future, we will provide additional updates.
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Featured Image: Chuck Garfien (@ChuckGarfien) / Twitter