White Sox veteran first baseman has put up impressive numbers since arriving in 2014. Would he be a Hall of Famer if he debuted earlier than at age 27?
Jose Abreu is entering his fifth MLB season with the White Sox and it’s been nothing short of a match made in baseball heaven. He has been an integral part of the team on and off the field, and especially during the rebuilding process. Even in year five of his MLB career and year two of the team’s rebuild, Abreu still has a major role to play with the White Sox.
Since his arrival in the United States, Abreu has been one of the most dependable and most productive first baseman in baseball. He hits for contact, he hits for power and has already matched up with a few of the best ballplayers to ever play the game. Most Sox fans already know, he joined two legendary players this past season to have at least 25 home runs and 100 RBIs in their first four MLB seasons.
More from White Sox News
- The Chicago White Sox might have had a season ending loss
- The Chicago White Sox are expecting Tim Anderson back soon
- Miguel Cairo’s words spark life into the Chicago White Sox
- Dylan Cease should be the favorite for the AL Cy Young Award
- Ozzie Guillen speaks the whole truth about Tony La Russa
The other two were future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols and baseball legend Joe DiMaggio. In his first season in the Majors, Abreu was voted into the All-Star game, finished fourth in MVP voting and was voted the American League Rookie of the Year. In his three seasons since 2014, he’s hit .296 with an OPS of .859, and has averaged 101 RBIs, 29 home runs, 83 runs, and 183 hits in every season.
Abreu has managed to put up big numbers and produce those on a very consistent basis. The only unfortunate part of Abreu’s career with the White Sox is that it’s on the tail-end of his baseball career. He had already played 10 seasons in Cuba and had been very successful with the Elefantes de Cienfuegos. Abreu has signed a pair of one-year deals with the Sox and just turned 31 on Jan. 29. He still has many years of baseball ahead of him but there’s a possibility that he won’t play at the level he’s currently playing at.
And one can’t help think what if Abreu arrived in the United States earlier and played his entire career in the MLB? Certain unfortunate circumstances most likely didn’t allow for the Cuban slugger to make it to the U.S. sooner but it is interesting to think if Abreu had played from the age of 23 to the age of 37, at this level of performance in the majors, would he be a Hall of Famer?