White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu said he wasn’t going anywhere. On Friday it became official.
The Sox and Abreu agreed to a three-year, $50 million contract, the team announced on Friday.
The agreement comes a day after the Sox signed free agent catcher Yasmani Grandal to a team-record $73 million, four-year deal.
Abreu will receive a $5 million signing bonus, $11 million in 2020, $16 million in 2021 and $18 million in 2022 with $4 million deferred.
Last season, Abreu, 32, batted .284/.330/.503 with 33 home runs, 38 doubles and a career-high 123 RBI. He led the American League in runs batted in and was named to the AL All-Star team for the third time.
"I told you I'd be back." pic.twitter.com/Tjiu3sHeO9
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) November 22, 2019
“From the moment he stepped into the major leagues, Jose Abreu has been a leader on the field and in the clubhouse,” White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said in a statement. “He has consistently delivered run production at a historic pace, and with each passing season, his leadership role within our clubhouse — with both American-born and Latin-American players — has repeatedly grown,” Hahn said.
“This is a dream come true for me and my family,” Abreu said in a statement. “To the fans, I told you I would come back. I never doubted it.”
Abreu accepted a one-year, $17.3 million qualifying offer from the Sox last week, but it was known both sides were still pursuing a multiyear agreement. The new agreement effectively gives Abreu a $32.2 million extension.
“The biggest lesson I had reinforced was that there are still people in this life who really take care and appreciate what you do,” Abreu said through a translator. “Throughout this process, I was able to connect with Jerry [Reinsdorf], Rick Hahn, Kenny Williams and [assistant GM] Jeremy Haber, and they all showed me their appreciation for me. That was something I really appreciated. That was one of the reasons why we were able to work this out.”
The field and leadership leadership Hahn alluded to heightened Abreu’s value to a rebuilding team that may be on the precipice of winning, a development that would be more than welcomed by Abreu. In each of the six years covering his $68 million contract — until Yasmani Grandal’s four-year, $73 million deal agreed to Thursday — Abreu has played on losing teams.
“It won’t take us too much longer to be a really good team,” Abreu said. “If it takes us longer than expected, I’m going to be very disappointed.”
