White Sox rival offered, missed out on Jose Abreu before Astros deal

Before he accepted a deal with the Houston Astros, first baseman Jose Abreu received an offer from a rival of the Chicago White Sox.

The Chicago White Sox watched as their longtime first baseman and former 2020 AL MVP Jose Abreu enter free agency, and ultimately sign with the defending World Series champion Houston Astros. Abreu reportedly received a three-year deal around $60 million from the Astros. While that was certainly heartbreaking news for White Sox fans, it could have been worse for them.

According to Cleveland.com’s Paul Hoynes, the Cleveland Guardians offered a three-year contract to Abreu before he ultimately decided to join the Astros.

Guardians offered three-year contract to former White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu

Seeing Abreu sign elsewhere would’ve stung for the White Sox fanbase. Seeing him sign with a division rival like the Guardians would’ve been absolutely painful. Alas, that never came to fruition.

The Guardians are coming off of a successful 2022 campaign where they won the AL Central title for the first time since 2018. Once making it into the postseason, they swept the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL Wild Card Series, but lost to the New York Yankees AL Division Series.

After losing out on Abreu, it will be interesting to see where the Guardians pivot to next.

As for the Astros, it was no secret that they were looking to bring in a big-name first baseman in free agency. They were reportedly linked to Anthony Rizzo, but less than a day after the report dropped, he re-signed with the New York Yankees. Now, the Astros emerge with Abreu as their new starting first baseman.

The White Sox may have lost Abreu, but they can take a bit of solace in the fact that he didn’t sign with the Guardians.