Jose Abreu rumors: 3 biggest threats to White Sox in free agency
By Tim Boyle
The Chicago White Sox could see these three teams become their biggest threats in any offseason Jose Abreu rumors once he does hit free agency.
Jose Abreu rumors aren’t looking good for Chicago White Sox fans who would like them to keep the first baseman who has been a big part of the franchise for several seasons. Since joining the club in 2014, he has had six seasons of 100+ RBI. This doesn’t even include the 2020 MVP campaign where he had a league-best 60 in 60 games played.
Vastly underrated, often under-appreciated, and still productive in his age 35 season in 2022, it’s curious why the White Sox haven’t discussed a new contract with him.
The White Sox aren’t out of the running in keeping him. They should be right there in any offseason Jose Abreu rumors. However, these three other teams should be huge threats to steal him away in free agency.
1) Jose Abreu rumors: San Francisco Giants might want an upgrade
Brandon Belt proved it’s time the San Francisco Giants move on from him. He had a rough 2022 season. With age clearly catching up with him, it’s better to let their longtime first baseman move on. How do they plug the position? They do it with Jose Abreu—at least some days.
Abreu has reached the stage of his career where DH duties should increase. He did manage to play 128 games in the field for the White Sox this past season while only appearing in 29 as the team’s DH. This is actually a pretty good ratio for someone his age.
The Giants are expected to pursue Aaron Judge heavily this offseason. Why stop there? Their lineup needs more firepower. On a two or three year deal with the thought process that he could decline quickly, Abreu makes sense.
Home run totals were down for Abreu in 2022—hitting a career-low 15 of them. He had twice as many in 2021 and 4 more in the shortened 2020 campaign. However, as a middle of the order bat to help protect Judge, he might not be such a bad buy for the Giants.