José Abreu
José Dariel Abreu Correa is a Cuban-born professional baseball first baseman who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball for the Chicago White Sox and Houston Astros.
Abreu played in the Cuban National Series for Cienfuegos before his defection from Cuba in August 2013. After being granted free agency by MLB, Abreu signed with the White Sox in October 2013. Abreu won the AL Rookie of the Year Award in 2014, the Silver Slugger Award in 2014, 2018, and 2020, and the American League's Most Valuable Player Award in 2020. He led the American League in runs batted in in 2019 and 2020. He signed with the Astros before the 2023 season and was released in 2024.
Professional career
Cuban career
Abreu set a Cuban home run record in 2010–2011 and was named league MVP. He had played five seasons in the Cuban Serie Nacional through 2007–2008, hitting.295 and slugging.467. After 48 games in 2008–2009, he was batting.345/.368/.600, earning the infielder a spot on Cuba's provisional roster for the 2009 World Baseball Classic. He did not make the final cut and finished the season with a.346/.441/.630 batting line. He led the 2008-09 Cuban National Series with 30 times hit by pitch. He tied Yenier Bello and Alex Guerrero for 8th in homers, was eighth in slugging and fourth in strikeouts.Abreu was 2-for-10 in the 2009 World Port Tournament, backing up Ariel Borrero at first base. In the 2009 Baseball World Cup, he hit.250/.333/.469 in his first major tournament. He was listed in the IBAF's Final Report as being one of the All-Star outfielders alongside teammate Alfredo Despaigne and Jon Weber, but other sources list Puerto Rico's Miguel Abreu, who had better statistics. He was not even used as a starter in the outfield, playing alongside Ariel Borrero at first. In the gold medal game, he did not appear as Borrero saw the action.
In 2009–2010, Abreu produced his best year to date, hitting.400/.555/.822 with 82 runs, 30 homers, 76 RBI and 74 walks to 49 strikeouts in 89 games. He tied Leonys Martín for 6th in the Serie Nacional in runs, tied for third with 25 doubles, tied Yuli Gurriel for second in home runs, was third with 235 total bases, again led with 30 times hit by pitch, tied Enrique Esteban Díaz for 4th in walks, led with 32 intentional walks, was second in average, led in slugging and probably led in OBP. He was named the All-Star first baseman.
Abreu was Cuba's starting first baseman when they won the 2010 Intercontinental Cup, their first Gold in an international tournament in three years. He hit.292/.320/.500. In the finale, he went 1-for-3 and scored the first run in the victory over the Dutch national baseball team; he doubled off Rob Cordemans in the third and came home on a Yorbis Borroto hit. He helped Cuba finish second at the 2010 Pan American Games Qualifying Tournament. In the 2010 World University Baseball Championship, he posted the best average by going 10-for-18 with two walks, a double, triple, four homers, nine runs and 12 RBI in six games as Cuba won the Gold. He was 0-for-4 in the finale, as Cuba edged Team USA. He was named the event's All-Star 1B.
Abreu continued to improve in 2010–11 with one of the greatest seasons in Cuban history. Over 66 games, he hit.453/.597/.986 with 79 runs, 93 RBI and 33 home runs. Despite missing 23 games due to bursitis in his shoulder, he broke Despaigne's home run record. Despaigne would reclaim the record a year later. Abreu led the league in average, slugging, intentional walks and homers, was second in RBI, tied for eighth in runs with Donal Duarte, seventh in total bases and fourth in times hit by pitch. Had he not been injured, he would have likely easily won a Triple Crown. He won Cuban National Series Most Valuable Player Award, the second MVP from Cienfuegos, following Pedro José Rodríguez, Sr., by 31 years.
Abreu was part of the Cuba national team at the 2013 World Baseball Classic. In Cuba's six games, he batted.383 and hit three home runs while recording nine RBIs.
Defection from Cuba
In August 2013, rumors began circulating online that Abreu had defected from Cuba to pursue an MLB career. Abreu's defection was later confirmed by former teammate Henry Urrutia. Abreu established residency in Haiti and trained in the Dominican Republic, where Urrutia's agents planned to showcase him.Abreu later told the Chicago Tribune that he decided to defect while playing in the 2013 World Baseball Classic in March.
Chicago White Sox
In October 2013, he signed a six-year contract with the Chicago White Sox worth $68 million. On the White Sox, Abreu joined fellow Cuban players Alexei Ramírez, Dayán Viciedo, and Rule 5 draft pick Adrian Nieto.2014: AL Rookie of the Year
Abreu recorded his first major league hit on March 31, 2014, against the Minnesota Twins. On April 8, 2014, Abreu hit the first two home runs of his career in a game at Coors Field, helping his team to defeat the Colorado Rockies, 15–3. On April 25, 2014, he captured his eighth home run of the year off Chris Archer, tying the rookie record for homers in March–April. Later that night, Abreu recorded his third multi-homer game with a walk-off grand slam versus Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Grant Balfour giving him nine homers in his first month in the Major Leagues, surpassing the record of eight shared by Albert Pujols, Carlos Delgado, and Kent Hrbek. Two days later, Abreu broke the rookie record for RBI in the month of April with 31, and extended the April rookie home run record to 10. For his performance, Abreu was awarded a share of the AL Player of the Week Award for April 21–27 along with Seattle Mariners' third baseman Kyle Seager. During this week, Abreu batted.310 with 5 home runs, 14 RBI and an.862 slugging percentage.On May 18, Abreu was placed on the 15-day disabled list with tendinitis in his left ankle. On June 2, Abreu returned from the DL to face the Los Angeles Dodgers. In the second at bat after his return, Abreu hit a two-run home run off Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw.
On July 6, Abreu was selected to the MLB All-Star Game along with teammates Alexei Ramírez and Chris Sale. At the All-Star Break, Abreu had a.292 batting average with 73 RBIs and an MLB-leading 29 home runs. Abreu was named both the American League Player of the Month and AL Rookie of the Month for April and July, becoming the first player to win both awards in the same month twice in one season. Having won the rookie honor in June, Abreu became only the fourth player to win the Rookie of the Month honor three or more times in a season.
Abreu finished the season with a club rookie record 36 home runs. He won the 2014 Sporting News AL Rookie of the Year Award. He was awarded the AL Silver Slugger Award for first basemen, becoming the only White Sox first baseman besides Frank Thomas to ever gain the honor. Abreu was unanimously named the 2014 AL Rookie of the Year by the BBWAA on November 10, 2014.
2015–2018
In 2015, Abreu batted.290/.347/.502 with 30 home runs and 101 RBIs in 154 games. His.502 slugging percentage and 67 extra-base hits both ranked tenth in the American League. Abreu batted.293/.353/.468 with 25 home runs and 100 RBIs for the White Sox in 2016.On September 9, 2017, Abreu hit for the cycle against the San Francisco Giants, becoming the first White Sox player to hit for the cycle since José Valentín on April 27, 2000. In 2017, Abreu held many of the top 20 ranks within MLB, 8th in MLB for batting average, batting.304 for the season, and led the league in total bases. He created a total of 116 runs throughout the season, placing him at fifth in the American League. He was third in the league for triples, hitting 6 over the course of the regular season, and had 82 total extra base hits, making him second in the league.
In 2018, Abreu again was selected to play in the 2018 All-Star Game as part of the American League team as a first baseman. After the 2018 season, he was also awarded his second Silver Slugger Award for first basemen. He batted.265/.325/.473 in 2018, each the lowest figure of his Major League Baseball career.
2019
In 2019, Abreu batted.284/.330/.503 with 33 home runs and led the American League in RBIs and sacrifice flies, and led the major leagues in grounding into double plays. On defense, he had a −4 Defensive Runs Saved rating, the lowest in the American League among first basemen.On November 14, 2019, Abreu agreed to the White Sox's qualifying offer of a one-year, $17.8 million contract. On November 22, Abreu signed a three-year contract with the White Sox worth $50 million, superseding his previously accepted qualifying offer.