Under normal circumstances, you'd start hearing Jose Abreu's name in trade rumors by the end of the month.
Abreu overcame a terrible first fortnight and is hitting .268/.328/.518 in his contract year. The White Sox aren't quite out of it yet at 19-22, but they didn't fashion themselves as even shadow contenders before the season, and now that they're down to three fully functional starters, I don't think they're going to develop the appetite to buy.
But Abreu and the Sox have found themselves in this position at previous deadlines and over previous winters, and trade talks have seemingly never advanced past initial inquiries. The White Sox value Abreu more than a league that is highly suspicious of over-30 corner bats, so he hasn't gone anywhere.
Based on what was said on Tuesday by a couple of different people, remain Abreu will.
In his notebook column for The Athletic, Ken Rosenthal said he couldn't envision a deal.
(Abreu) has said, “I would like to stay with this organization forever,” and the feeling might be mutual. The White Sox value Abreu’s clubhouse presence, and owner Jerry Reinsdorf even presented him with a special ring after he hit for the cycle in ’17.
The team obviously would listen to any offers, but the trade market for first-base/DH types will be crowded with players such as the Blue Jays’ Justin Smoak and Mariners’ Edwin Encarnación and Jay Bruce. The White Sox would weigh any potential return against the value of the draft pick they would receive if they made Abreu a qualifying offer and he rejected it. Put it all together, and a trade would appear unlikely.
That's kind of the status quo and wouldn't be much to run with, but conveniently, Rick Hahn reiterated the point during his appearance on MLB Network later in the day.
Starting around the 3:30 mark, Matt Vasgersian asked Hahn about Abreu, and Hahn opened with how much Abreu means to the Sox, and how other teams' offers haven't inspired the Sox to consider how they'd deal with his absence, all of which we've heard before.
Hahn saved the new part for his last sentence:
"(Abreu)'s been here for the early stages of this rebuild, and it's certainly very likely that he'll be here for the more enjoyable stages that lie ahead of us."
That's probably as plainspoken as you'll see a GM get about an impending free agent. I'd normally hedge say something like, "Unless Abreu has a 2009 Jermaine Dye-like second half..." before penciling him into offseason plans, but as we saw with the end of Paul Konerko's career, if Reinsdorf is attached to Abreu, all the writing on the wall won't register.
Assuming Hahn isn't Rick-rolling everybody -- he usually traffics in generalities instead of misdirection -- then the idea of freeing up first base will be nothing but a thought exercise, leaving everybody to hope that Abreu will continue to be a productive, well-rounded hitter who you wouldn't ever want to see in another team's uniform. And if Abreu is the White Sox first baseman of the foreseeable future, then here's hoping the said Sox avoid reserving the DH spot for another 30something first baseman, because Yonder Alonso is on track to be the third one who hasn't worked.
