The Chicago White Sox were a bad team in 2022 and they still managed to have an 81-81 record. It was a team that had expectations of winning the division with ease and making a run at the World Series. Unfortunately, their underachieving season forced some changes.
Jose Abreu is no longer with the organization now after signing a three-year deal with the Houston Astros who are now the defending World Series champions. It is a sad day for the White Sox as a franchise legend left for nothing while he is still a really good baseball player.
Now, he has a much better chance to win with Houston which is a reason to be happy for him on a personal note. With Abreu joining the team, they are clearly still in win-now mode with their core getting even better. He will bring that hunger to win to a core that has already won.
The White Sox are hoping that they can get good production from potential replacements like Andrew Vaughn and Gavin Sheets even though nobody is Jose Abreu.
The Chicago White Sox are going to have a tough first series of the year.
A part about all of this that hurts a lot is the fact that the White Sox have to open the season against Abreu and the Astros in Houston. This is a tough way for any team to begin the season but it is even worse for the White Sox.
They are the team that eliminated them in 2021 (and broke them), the defending World Series champions, and the team that landed Jose Abreu. That is enough to be very annoyed to have them lined up as the first opponent of what they hope is a bounce back year.
The first game of the season won't only open the season for these two respective teams, it will open the season for the entire league on national TV. There is a lot of pressure that will come with that. This game will take place on March 30th, 2023.
Chicago and Houston will have a four game series to kick off the year. Again, this is a tough draw but it is also a chance for the new look White Sox core to make a statement early on in the season. Hopefully, Abreu and his bat don't make this harder than it is already going to be.