Jose Abreu Accepts Qualifying Offer, Back With White Sox In 2020 On One Year Deal
Good news here. This keeps a core player in tact for another year while Vaughn continues to develop in the minors, Abreu gets paid, and he won’t hit the open market as a 33 year old 1B (DH, he sucks defensively) with a qualifying offer attached to his name. Win/win for all involved. The Sox and Abreu can now work on an extension for 2021 and beyond should they feel so inclined.
Truthfully, there were a few rumors that trickled in the middle of the day that said the Sox were working on a new 3 year deal. They very well could have been and still might be, but three years really scares me. For Abreu. Abreu is 100% a DH at this juncture of his career and his offensive output has gone downhill the last couple of years as well. That’s not to say he’s not productive anymore, because he is, but 3 years would put him into his age 36 season. I don’t like that at all, I don’t care how good of a clubhouse presence he is. Doesn’t matter though. For now, Abreu is on a 1 year deal which makes me very happy personally.
Nice to see some movement today. Today was the deadline for qualifying offers to be accepted/rejected so movement was bound to happen, but Will Smith also signed with ATL. Frankly, his agent pulled an awesome move:
In recent years, players have gotten fucked over by qualifying offers being attached to their names. They’re the bane of Scott Boras’ existence. Just ask Mike Moustakas. Not Jeff Berry though – smooth move. It’s gotta be the method employed by agents moving forward for relievers and middle of the pack starters. Kinda ancillary, but I thought this was great.
Next up for the Sox? Go and attack the SP market. Meet with Zach Wheeler’s reps, ask what they’re looking for, offer it, and ink him early a la Patrick Corbin in the 2018-19 offseason. We all hope free agency moves faster this year than it did in 2017, and early rumblings and movement suggest it just might.
One offseason box is now checked. Keep em rolling Rick