If you want to insulate yourself to the shock of seeing one of your favorite players in another team's uniform, I recommend playing MLB The Show. José Abreu's introduction with the Houston Astros didn't startle me as much as I expected, perhaps because I spent a player career in MLB The Show watching Abreu anchor first base for the Philadelphia Phillies over a half-dozen seasons.
Abreu did look thrilled to be joining the Astros, and the Astros looked thrilled to have him, with Jim Crane using Abreu's cell phone to signal the excitement all around:
"José pulled out his phone last night and had phone numbers of our entire team," Crane said. "So I guess he knows some of the guys."
Abreu was asked whether the White Sox tried to retain him, and it appears as though the translator attempted to run interference.
Jose said yes, the White Sox made him an offer, "it was a really good offer, but we'll leave it there."
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) November 29, 2022
Which differs from:
“The White Sox made an offer. It was a respectful offer, but God knows why he does what he does,” Jose Abreu says. #LevelUp pic.twitter.com/c5RHA7mh34
— Jose de Jesus Ortiz (@OrtizKicks) November 29, 2022
Which differs from James Fegan's direct translation:
But Abreu was asked directly if he had received an offer to return to the White Sox and answered it directly, saying his old team “hicieron una oferta. No formal, pero una oferta.” It was translated differently by the Astros team interpreter and media present, but that indicates there was an offer from the Sox, but not a formal one.
Which differs from another way Abreu's quote was heard:
I heard "No fue mal, hiceron un oferta y se quedo alli", ....which translates to "It wasn't bad, they made an offer and it stood on the table"
— Alicia Vara (@ReadingSesh) November 29, 2022
The White Sox weren't interested in clarifying matters. Rick Hahn declined to talk about any offer the White Sox made, and Jerry Reinsdorf merely said the parties "ended up in different places in the business side of the game."
To me, it doesn't really matter what kind of offer the White Sox made, if any offer actually existed. Everybody seemed to have the same view of the writing on the wall, so if I had to guess, I'd say the White Sox said something to the effect of, "If the market isn't to your liking, let us know."
The market, as it turned out, loved him. After Abreu signed with Houston, reports emerged of strong interest from the Guardians, the Padres, the Marlins, and some level of interest from the Red Sox as well.
I'll have more to write about Abreu's career down the line, but as I wrote this morning, the failure isn't that Abreu isn't a White Sox now. The failure is that the White Sox seem exceptionally unprepared for life without him.
PERTINENT: José Abreu couldn't do it alone, but White Sox tried to make him
The White Sox had to discuss Abreu because the news overlapped with their introduction of Pedro Grifol's new coaching staff. They had some questions to answer about that too, for better or for worse.
In the former column, it came as a mild surprise that Mike Tosar joined the White Sox as a field coordinator instead of hitting coach, which instead was filled by former Atlanta assistant hitting coach José Castro.
Based on Grifol's comments, it seems like he wanted both Tosar and Castro, and their strengths determined the specific titles.
“[Tosar is] extremely versatile, which is something I really like about our staff,” Grifol said. “I just didn’t want to make him a hitting coach because he’s got a lot of value to the bunting game, to base running, certainly he’s got a lot of value to hitting and infield. We’re going to use these guys maybe in a different way than most teams … we’ve got some versatility on this staff and we’ll cross-pollinate at some point every day.”
I'm not sure I like "the bunting game" being so front of mind, but I'm imagining that Castro and Chris Johnson are open to letting Tosar get some time with a hitter if he has a notion, which sounds positive enough.
What doesn't sound positive is Grifol's explanation for the continued existence of Daryl Boston. Daryl Van Schouwen's story had this:
Grifol said cited Boston’s “great relationships with players” and attention to detail.
“I’ve had three or four conversations with him and our visions aligned,” Grifol said.
And James Fegan's story said this:
Grifol detailed that in previous seasons Boston has overseen the team’s base running and outfield defense. The Sox didn’t have the healthy personnel to thrive in those areas in 2022, but they certainly struggled, and Grifol said a first-base coach is not well situated to oversee base running. So as he returns, Grifol said he’s asking Boston to focus more on just outfield defense.
“If you’re coaching first base, you’re not watching base runners; you’ve got to follow a baseball,” Grifol said. “It’s going to be a collective effort, along with a lot of video and a lot of details, when it comes to doing things right on the bases, which is something I really, really believe in. (Boston) is going to head up the outfield work, and the base running is going to be headed up by Charlie with all of our help.”
Allow me two points of brief, uncharacteristic cynicism:
No. 1: "I have to retain you" and "You have to retain me" technically qualify as aligning visions.
No. 2: With all due respect to the idea of Boston's laser focus making a difference, if you can't fire an employee, the best you can do is reduce responsibilities.
