It is transparent but I will say that Abreu is a weird guy. FWIW I don’t think he wants to leave the White Sox or the city of Chicago. He even reached out to the Cubs. It is possible he is a tease and ends up going back to the White Sox on a one year deal at under market value.
I could see that. Way too much leaking coming from his camp to suggest they have a clear-cut destination in mind. Does Chicago even want him back? Seems like they have better options that will warrant playing time.
I am starting to expect Abreu to go back to Chicago. His market is too hot and if he doesn’t sign elsewhere before the meetings end then I would think it’s because he’s too tied to Chicago.
I'm sure the White Sox do not want him back. They may have even said as much. He would have already signed if they wanted him. They need a spot for Vaughn who is 12 years younger and an absolute butcher in the OF and Jimenez's injuries always forcing them to have the DH spot open ( and he's no Chas McCormick with the glove either)
Well, I hope we don't get Beltran'd waiting on Verlander to make a decision and watch other key targets sign elsewhere while we twiddle our thumbs. Unless Crane is nearly certain we can make a deal for Verlander, I'd give him a deadline and start filling out other key areas of need. The Angels and Mariners have already improved --- we need to as well if we want to continue our dynasty
The fact that Justin's every discussion/meeting with every other team is getting leaked is a pretty good sign of his intentions that he's fully keeping the Astros/Crane in the loop as they'll likely be given the option to match/exceed whatever offer he gets (as they did last year). Whether or not they choose to do so is entirely up to Crane. Nobody is twiddling their thumbs in this day/age nor is there a need to set hard deadlines when the winter meetings haven't even happened yet. And in 2004, there were no "missed key targets" while the Astros attempted to sign Carlos Beltran.
Chicago would gladly welcome him back as a player, the issue is money, and they have Andrew Vaughn ready to play first. They just got a steal with Cleavenger IMO to replace Cueto in the rotation. They are expected to be over $160,000,000 in salaries after their arbitration players are paid. They haven't in the past shown a willingness to go much higher than that, so would they go over that on a one-year deal with Abreu. They are trying to move Yasmani Grandal and Joe Kelly to open up payroll, but I don't think they will be able to move Grandal without adding a top prospect of paying well over half of Grandal's money.
Abreu is considered an excellent teammate and he also trains and plays hard. However, he does have some family issues and there are still family members in Chicago that may not move with him, and friends as well. It may be a situation where he believes in his ability to continue to hit well and takes a one-year deal with the Sox or Cubs and sees what happens. I don't know Abreu obviously. I am living in Chicago and have followed his career closely since the Astros tried to get him - but from what everyone has said, he is a guy that needs a strong support staff around him. If the Astros really do want him, having Alvarez reaching out to him would likely be a big benefit, it may also be worth brining back Diaz on a small contract as well.
They didn't plan on him coming back based on finances, but if he is willing to take less money or a one-year deal, I am sure they would welcome him back. He is the clear-cut leader of that team and very popular with fans, coaches and the owner of the team. They were going to let him go before, when he worked out a contract. My guess is that he ends up somewhere other than Chicago, but it isn't really very far-fetched. The White Sox have Vaughn ready to play 1st and, as you said, they have guys like Jiminez that are poor fielders that would best be served as a DH. Still, if the Sox can clear the money to add Abreu, they likely make it work on a team friendly deal. Remember the Sox have an owner that routinely steps in and makes decisions that are not always supported by the baseball people. The only reason I even bring up the possibility of him returning to Chicago is that I live in Chicago and have been following the White Sox. Also to be clear, this isn't anything I have heard from someone actually in baseball, this is my personal observation.
I asked about the relationship between Verlander and Crane after someone leaked that Crane wasn't happy with the contract demands of Verlander. I was told that Verlander and Crane are still good, and that all of the pertinent discussions between Verlander and the Astros are directly with Crane. No one with the Astros seems to know what Crane will ultimately do, other than Verlander and Crane would both prefer resolution sooner than later.
Pretty much how its expected to be. After he's had discussions with the Dodgers and NY teams, that's pretty much going to give a good idea of what his market is. They may entertain a bad team willing to throw stupid money at him (Rangers), but ultimately it will come down to one of the 4 teams and they'll likely resolve the situation before the winter meetings end next week (if not before then).
Gonna be tough on him if he signs with the Dodgers. I assume he will be mercilessly booed at home and on the road. Just like Springer and Marwin and Morton and Correa and McHugh and Musgrove and Hinch and Cora Oh... wait
Just wait till they get both him AND Correa... and they get rid of Bellinger... Dodgers fans are going to "HAVE THE GAME TURNED UPSIDE DOWN!!!!!" (I will always love that Joe Davis call for game 6... iconic).
Brantley, Abreu/Yul... and probably enough for JV. Or just JV and Brantley. I'm not expecting them to pay a ton for hitting.
I'm 100% good with moving on from Verlander. He had something to prove this year (coming back from TJ surgery, on his last year of his contract, wanted to win a World Series game), and motivation was high. Next season, he's a year older and won't have the same goals to strive for. I expect regression. We didn't trust him in the playoffs at all. His price tag leaves no room for anything but 3-straight repeats of 2022's performance. That won't happen. Better to allocate resources towards players that can outplay their contracts... that's necessary to win in MLB.
Pitchers perform much better year 2 after TJ surgery. He was still hampered/coddled in many ways. A lot of things went right in 2022 with this pitching staff but it isn't always guaranteed to happen every year. LMJ/Urquiddy/Garcia all have more question marks than JV would have. Framber/Javier are going to be good. There's also not some barrel of players they can just go re-allocate resources to that would automatically expect to come here... and keeping pitching as flush as possible IS the most proven formula to having success year-in/year-out.
I wouldn't be too broken up to see Verlander go. A little bit sad but at his age, a player can fall off a cliff at any moment. I guess that's true of any player at any age but at 40+ it feels especially true. Everyone falls off eventually.
Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens say hi. Even John Smoltz says hi. Verlander has less mileage on his arm in recent years. His 2022 playoff "debacles" also get more embellished every week around here. Pitches the worst game of the year against a hot Mariners team after he had 10 days off. Then dominates the Yankees in game 1 of the ALCS. Then dominates a hot Phillies team through 5 before they dink/dunk their way towards breaking through (should have been out of the 5th inning with zero runs). Then he actually pitches with worse command in game 5 but holds them down just long enough for the W. Other than Framber, there's unlikely to be a pitcher on this team who will replicate JV's 2022 season... let alone his 2023 season where the kid gloves come off after TJ surgery.
