Chicago White Sox: What should team do with Jose Abreu?

Jose Abreu is a Chicago White Sox veteran, a fan favorite, and despite reduced power numbers in 2022, one of the core hitters. He’s also a free agent and he’s closer to the end of his prime career years than the beginning.

With Andrew Vaughn and Gavin Sheets on the roster as backup first basemen who also have pop in their bats, there appears to be not one but two possible replacements if Abreu walks.

Sheets is a left-handed bat which is nice too. Both Vaughn and Sheets played the outfield for the Sox in 2022 and both struggled defensively.

Perhaps the key to deciding what to do with Abreu actually involves another outfield position which is left field.

Eloy Jimenez has played there but most Sox fans believe he should move to designated hitter because his defense is questionable and because he has a tendency to get hurt out there.

If Eloy moves to DH, maybe Vaughn and/or Sheets could play left. If Jimenez is able to be the everyday left fielder, Vaughn and/or Sheets could play first (either in a platoon or with one starting and one coming off the bench) and Abreu can move to DH.

The Chicago White Sox have a big decision to make on Jose Abreu this off-season.

It appears to this author that the Sox have several options regarding Abreu. Here they are:

• The Sox keep Abreu, keep Vaughn, keep Sheets, and Abreu remains the first baseman, with Vaughn and Sheets coming off the bench to play first. Jimenez is the DH.
• The Sox keep all three, Abreu is the 1B, Jimenez is the DH, and Vaughn/Sheets play left.
• The Sox keep all three, Abreu is the DH, Jimenez plays left, and Vaughn/Sheets play first (and perhaps also serves as DH when Abreu needs a day off).
• The Sox keep all three, Abreu is 1B, Eloy is DH, the Sox find a different left fielder, and Vaughn/Sheets are bench players who come in to play in the field and DH as needed.
• Vaughn or Sheets is traded.
• Abreu walks and is replaced by Vaughn or Sheets

Perhaps it’s sentimentality over the cold, hard logic of baseball statistics and analytics but it would be nice to see all these players stay.

The easiest way to achieve that would be for Jimenez to play left, Abreu to DH, and Vaughn to play first with Sheets coming off the bench.

Having Jimenez at DH, Vaughn in left, and Abreu at first could also work. Vaughn (or Sheets) becomes less of a defensive liability in left than in right.

As stated at the outset, this decision is probably Rick Hahn‘s trickiest, outside of selecting a new manager to replace Tony La Russa this offseason. Here’s hoping that however the roster is constructed, it works to the White Sox’s benefit in 2023.