White Sox: Jose Abreu, Anthony Rizzo share many similarities

Jose Abreu of the Chicago White Sox is a fan favorite, power hitting first baseman. That sounds awfully similar to another first baseman in Chicago.

Less than a month into the 2019-20 offseason, the Chicago White Sox signed veteran first baseman Jose Abreu to a 3-year, $50 million extension.

Abreu had already accepted the one-year, $17.8 million qualifying offer from the team. With that in mind, the 3-year extension is essentially a 2-year, $32.2 million deal through 2022. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent after the 2022 season.

We’ve already talked about the similarities between the Chicago Cubs and White Sox rebuilds, and the clubs’ first basemen are quite similar.

Abreu and Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo have many things in common, from their game to their personalities.

As for their style of play, both are power-hitting first basemen. While Abreu’s HR% is an impressive 4.6%, Rizzo isn’t far behind with a solid 4.2%.

Though it’s true that Rizzo is better at getting on base while Abreu is yet to log under 100 strikeouts in his career, they’re still solid power hitters who can get on base at the top of the order, typically at the three-spot.

Their fielding is similar as well, although Rizzo has an edge over Abreu. Nonetheless, both guys come in at single-digit errors on average each season. Rizzo’s .995 fielding percentage is just .003 higher than Abreu’s .992. Though Rizzo is a bit flashier and has two Gold Gloves to his resume, their range factor per game (calculated by put outs and assists divided by games) is an astoundingly equal 8.82.

For those wondering how they compare in the wins above replacement, they’re also strikingly similar. After six major league seasons, Abreu checks in at 21.2. In that same span of Rizzo’s first six years in the league, he totaled 21.8 WAR.

Just look at Abreu’s and Rizzo’s projections for 2020 according to Baseball-Reference:

Jose Abreu: .276/.330/.501, 28 HR, 94 RBI, 77 runs scored

Anthony Rizzo: .277/.380/.494, 24 HR, 87 RBI, 76 runs scored

There are…not many differences there.

Even their personalities are quite similar. Both players are three-time All-Star first basemen who are excellent leaders in the clubhouse and respected around the league. They’re solid centerpieces to center a rebuild and championship team around, especially in terms of their leadership and work ethic.

Thanks to all of their similarities, Rizzo and Abreu earned very similar paydays for the next couple of seasons. Each year, they’ll both earn between $16-18 million (though Abreu will receive a bit under that in 2020).

Both organizations are fortunate to have such talented fan-favorites at first base, and they’re both great for the game in many ways.

But don’t get us started on Anthony Rizzo’s pitching abilities. Abreu could only dream of such a stellar pitching record.