The Chicago White Sox have been one of the more active teams of the trade front this offseason. They successfully traded Chris Sale and Adam Eaton for a number of prospects including Yoan Moncada, Lucas Giolito, Michael Kopech and others.
Even after moving two of their best players, the White Sox still have numerous trade assets who could be dealt. Jose Quintana, David Robertson, Todd Frazier and many more could be on the move before the end of 2017.
One player who hasn’t seen much trade discussion is first baseman Jose Abreu.
Abreu has been in the MLB for the past three seasons, appearing in 458 games. He has hit .299 with 91 home runs and 308 RBIs. Abreu was named the 2014 American League Rookie of the Year.
The White Sox first baseman has been a model of consistency over his three years in the MLB. He has appeared in atleast 145 games, hitting no lower than .290 with 25 home runs and 100 RBIs.
Abreu is one of the best hitters in the MLB, so why has he seen such minimal trade interest?
For one, Abreu’s contract may scare some teams. He is under team control until 2019 with two years of arbitration left. He is making a modest $10,825,000 in 2017, but if he continues to succeed that number could rise dramatically.
What may be a bigger factor is the White Sox acquisition of Moncada. Both the top prospect and Abreu played together in Cuba. That familiarity between the two would help Moncada’s transition to the major leagues.
Keeping Abreu definitely holds their advantages as he would be a team leader and would greatly benefit Moncada when he arrives to the MLB. But isn’t everyone on the roster available?
The White Sox are in the middle of a rebuild, they should be willing to trade everyone on the roster. If Rick Hahn came out and made Abreu widely available, he would surely draw interest. While slugging free agents haven’t done well on the market, Abreu is still fairly young at just 30 and has proven time and time again that he could hit. Unlike a player like Mark Trumbo who is talented but unpredictable, team’s know exactly what they’re getting out of the White Sox slugger.
To this point only the Colorado Rockies have shown interest in Abreu. But with the team seemingly committing to Ian Desmond as their first baseman, they’re likely out of the running.
It’s unclear what Abreu’s market looks like at the moment. But one team that stands out as the perfect landing spot are the Tampa Bay Rays.
