Following up: White Sox mum on José Abreu offer, but elaborate on coaching roles

White Sox first-base coach Daryl Boston
(Photo by David Richard/USA TODAY Sports)

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.

Which differs from:

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:

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.

PERTINENT: White Sox announce Pedro Grifol’s coaching staff

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Trooper Galactus

The White Sox better have something legitimately huge up their sleeves this offseason, because everything they’ve done so far is triggering my gag reflex (pending confirmation of just how much money they’ve committed to Clevinger).

Didn’t you see the bar they’re adding to the stadium? Woohoo!

I’m a teetotaler.

steelydan52

If you can’t enjoy the product on the field then just come and get drunk!
New Sox motto. Or how about “Drink because we stink!”

FishSox

$1 Beer Mondays?

lifelongjd

The Sox retaining D-Bo goes a long way at confirming he’s Kenny Williams’ mole in the clubhouse.

gibby32

That did not need confirmation. Having said that, I know it’s an unpopular opinion here (and elsewhere), but I know Boston a bit, and he is a pretty delightful guy socially. I know about the seemingly unsavory history, on at least one occasion, but I draw few conclusions from what I consider to be a spotty report. We sometimes do a bit of virtue signaling in situations like this, and I am going to shy away from that. Boston seemed to do fine work with Sheets in the outfield.

steelydan52

Yes. It was more important to let go of McEwing and Menechino. At least they’re moving Boston to another role. Wait until he becomes GM in a few years!

ForsterFTOG

Unsavory history?
You mean the credible gang rape allegations?

gibby32

Yeah, the “allegations”. Congratulations on highlighting my comment as to “virtue signaling”.

Joliet Orange Sox

I don’t want to get into how strong the evidence is that Boston did what is alleged. I think one could attempt to make the argument that the evidence wasn’t strong enough to warrant his dismissal.

My issue at the moment is that the White Sox have just hired a brand new manager from outside the organization and I believe the default at this point is to let people go unless a strong case can be made about the benefits of retaining them. At this point, I just don’t understand why the Sox would keep someone who is nothing special at his job when the allegations against him are out there. Why keep someone who has this cloud over them when there are many people out there who could do his job without baggage?

gibby32

I largely agree, minus the cloud. But I think that Grifol should be allowed to choose his own coaches, unless there is a good reason to do otherwise. There might be such a reason for Katz; it’s hard to imagine for Boston.

HallofFrank

I’ve wondered this, too. Rightly or wrongly, I’ve wondered if the honest FO answer to your question is something like: “because we know and love Boston, and we know that no one will hire him because of the cloud.”

So, in a strange twist of irony, I’m wondering if the cloud is what’s keeping him around. He’s in one of the only roles where such a thing is conceivable: high profile enough that he’d have little hope at another MLB job, but low profile enough that his presence doesn’t keep the Sox from other, more impactful coaches. But, what do I know? It’s just a guess.

Trooper Galactus

The outfield defense has been a train wreck for a damn long time and you’re gonna throw Boston a bone because Sheets went from a train wreck to just passably bad out there? Ignoring that Vaughn went from passably bad to the worst outfielder in the game at the same time, or that Robert went from the best in the game to decidedly mediocre? Boston’s ledger is thoroughly in the red even if you ignore all the past allegations against him.

FishSox

Grifol said he’s asking Boston to focus more on just outfield defense

Last edited 1 year ago by FishSox
PauliePaulie

So, according to Alicia Vara, the Sox have gone from having a seat at the table to standing on it. Nice!

Last edited 1 year ago by PauliePaulie
abehickock

The kidee table.

calcetinesblancos

With all the mileage we’ve gotten out of making fun of that table quote, there’s no way Rick doesn’t regularly regret saying it.

Never mind he’s pretty well played his hand that he’s on social media and blogs, at least lurking.

calcetinesblancos

We all know Abreu by now; there’s zero chance he would just come out and trash the Sox no matter how bad of a taste their “offer” left in his mouth. I actually don’t believe he cares much about the money. My guess is he wants to win and he wants to be THE guy at 1B. There’s also gotta be very little if any pressure when you’re replacing someone who sucks as bad as Yuli Gurriel.

Gurriel had a pretty good career for a guy who didn’t get started until he was 32. And his performance in his age-37 season is pretty close to what Abreu did in 2022 at age 36.

Yeah he wasn’t bad overall, but he was bad last year and he also seems like an immature ass.

I don’t follow the Astros, so I have no idea how he comports himself on or off the field, and yeah, he seems to have fallen off a cliff, but I’d say he had a fine career given his situation. Very few players, even international stars, are that productive with so late a start.

Trooper Galactus

Oh yeah, I’d forgotten that was him. Yeah, total dipshit.

Augusto Barojas

I think safe to assume that the difference between the Sox offer for Jose and the Astros is probably on the same order of magnitude as the difference in talent between the two rosters.

Last edited 1 year ago by Augusto Barojas
Trooper Galactus

That would imply the White Sox offer was at least in the median of offers overall. No, I think it’s probably more like the difference between the Nationals and the Astros.

As Cirensica

FWIW, What I heard from Abreu was “Well, yes, there was an offer, but it was not a formal one. Didn’t go beyond that, and God knows why he does the things he does.”

jhomeslice

I absolutely loved “they made an offer, and it stood on the table”. LMAO!!

Analogous to “The White Sox are seeking a starter like Robbie Ray and a 2b just like Semien”.

It’s a much better bet that the Astros will improve even more than it is that the Sox will do a damn thing.

Last edited 1 year ago by jhomeslice
Augusto Barojas

There have been rumors that the Astros have reached out to Contreras, Nimmo, and Benintendi. To be a fan of that team must feel like it did to root for the 90’s Bulls. Cheating scandal aside!

calcetinesblancos

I think Abreu will find his power stroke again playing in a lineup where he isn’t the only person who can hit. I guarantee 20 homers, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him hit 30.

jhomeslice

Better clubhouse vibe (winning team compared to TLR/losing team), no cold weather April, bandbox park, and Abreu was a bit banged up last year. 30 might be conservative, I think he will be good for that and maybe more, plus 120 rbi’s.

texag10

I’ll take the under on the RBIs but only because they have other mashers in that lineup. It’s gonna be hard to drive in runs when Tucker just cleared the baserunners with a home run.

NancyFaustsOrgan

Death, taxes and 1B coach Daryl Boston.

ForsterFTOG

Those are my only choices?
Death?

calcetinesblancos

At least he gave you an out.

Boston’s good at generating a lot of outs on the bases.