3 reasons the Chicago White Sox should not bring back Jose Abreu
He needs to revive himself on a contender
Jose Abreu will always be a legend on the Southside of Chicago. The former three-time All-Star and 2020 AL MVP for the Chicago White Sox was one of the few draws the team had during the rebuild days of the past decade.
It was tough to see him be allowed to walk away from the franchise after the 2022 season because the previous front-office leadership wanted to give Andrew Vaughn the first base job full-time. Vaughn has been nothing more than a replacement-level player at his best and someone who should be sent to Triple-A at his worst.
You never had that with Abreu after he took over first base from the iconic Paul Konerko. However, Father Time has caught up with El Pito this season and his season has gone so poorly that the Houston Astros released the White Sox icon.
There is a call within the Sox fanbase that the team should bring him back to Chicago so he can finish out his career.
This is such a wasted year for the White Sox, let Jose Abreu come back and retire with us. I don’t care if he doesn’t get a hit the rest of the year, this would make my heart happy. https://t.co/GKDI6YpZix
— Courtney Finnicum (@courtney883) June 14, 2024
The sentimental reasons and bringing back a name during a historically awful season make sense. That is about the only reasons to bring him back as there are three reasons he should not reunite with the club where he became a star.
The White Sox have already wasted our time with unproductive veterans this season.
Martin Maldonado is the worst hitter in baseball with his average being well below .100. It is bad enough that he is an automatic out, but he is also taking away precious development time from Korey Lee.
Mike Clevinger, Michael Soroka, and Brad Keller have also taken away precious starts that could have benefited Nick Nastrini's and Jonathan Cannon's development. About the only veterans working out are Tommy Pham and Paul DeJong.
Heck, they demoted Jordan Leasure for veteran Chad Kuhl instead of seeing if the rookie bullpen arm could bounce back from adversity.
The Sox should not waste Andrew Vaughn's recent strong hitting and Gavin Sheets' ability to get on base with another veteran who is clearly in decline even if Abreu is an icon. Had the White Sox not wasted so much time on bad veteran players, then fine, a reunion would be a nice idea.
Let Abreu see if he can turn things around with a contender and have a shot at a championship.
This is the unselfish take.
Abreu did a lot of losing on the Southside until 2020. From 2014-2019, the Sox were either middling or tanking. When the contention window finally opened, the Sox won two playoff games between 2020-21 and then sunk back into mediocrity in 2022.
The Sox have been losers ever since he left for Houston last year, but Abreu is not going to be able to turn this team's fortunes around. This is a lost season with no hope of October baseball. Let's not make Jose a loser again.
It would be nice to see Abreu do what Albert Pujols did at the end of his career when he was released by the Los Angeles Angels and joined a contender. Pujols found a way to right his season in 2021 with the Los Angeles Dodgers and had a shot at a championship.
It would be nice to see Abreu follow that path and get a shot at a World Series title after he experienced a lot of losing on the Southside.
Abreu should retire.
Signing him to a one-day contract so he can retire with the White Sox makes sense. Asking him to contribute to a team on pace to possibly finish with the worst record in the 162-game schedule era is not a good idea for the simple reason that Abreu might be washed.
Maldonado's numbers are so bad that they reflect a player that should have retired two years ago. Abreu's numbers this year are not much better than Maldy's.
If Martin has no business being on a baseball field anymore, Abreu is in the same boat. Jose has tried to revive his declining numbers as he accepted a demotion to Houston's Florida Complex League. It did not work.
Now Pito has always been a slow starter, but this time he is 37. His decline might just be time telling him his career is up.
Abreu's White Sox career will always deserve legendary status. He should have his number retired, but a second go-around as a player should not be in the cards.
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