Jose Abreu strikes nerve with recent comments on White Sox dysfunction

Jose Abreu

Let's talk about what former White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu said in a recent Sun-Times interview.

Abreu, the 36-year-old longtime leader of the Sox, signed a three-year, $58.5 million contract with the defending World Series champion Houston Astros this past offseason.

When asked about his departure from the South Side, Abreu said this:

“Sometimes, when you’re at a place where maybe you’re not being respected to the point where you think you should be, you just have to go somewhere else." 

The Sox obviously made the decision to go with a younger, cheaper player at first base for 2023 -- 24-year-old Andrew Vaughn.

But Abreu's comments went beyond his belief that he was disrespected. He added some thoughts on the 2022 season:

“The best way I can put it is just that we weren’t a real family,” Abreu told the Sun-Times. “And I’m hoping that maybe [the Sox] can get to a situation where a lot of the guys there that do deserve to be in a good situation, they can have it there and be able to win. But I don’t really have too much more to say about that.”

With that, Abreu joins a long line of former Sox players who criticized management and the team culture on the way out the door. 

Indeed, even in a down season, Abreu was the team's healthiest and most consistent position player in 2022, yet it's unclear whether he was ever offered a fair contract. So, it's understandable to me if he felt disrespected.

As for these comments about the team not being "a real family," that's no fooling, right? The atmosphere around last year's club seemed toxic, as preseason expectations of competing for a championship crumbled and the team limped to an 81-81 finish.

During the 2020 season -- and for most of the 2021 season -- Sox players seemed to be having a good time playing together. That didn't feel like it was the case last year, whether it was the result of Tony La Russa's management of the team, or some other factor.

Much to my surprise, I read a lot of online outrage about these comments, most of them directed toward Abreu. Some even went so far as to call him a traitor. 

I think I'll take a pass on joining that chorus. Abreu did his job throughout his nine seasons in a Sox uniform. He was a good soldier during that time, during which he often played on bad teams. I take no offense to his comments, especially knowing that his remarks are most likely fair and correct.