Abreu reminisces about White Sox on Opening Day

This story was excerpted from Scott Merkin’s White Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

HOUSTON -- José Abreu walked into a press conference before Thursday’s Opening Day at Minute Maid Park to talk one more time about his free agent departure from the White Sox after becoming a franchise icon over nine seasons in Chicago.

It just so happened the White Sox and the regining World Series champion Astros, Abreu’s current team, matched up in this first four-game set.

Before he took questions, Abreu shook my hand and exchanged a few pleasantries. He did the same with James Fegan of The Athletic, LaMond Pope of the Chicago Tribune and Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times. One national reporter commented to me how cool it was for Abreu to make that sort of gesture to the people who covered him daily for so long, but it was of no surprise.

That’s Abreu: Pure class every step of the way.

“We just appreciate all he did for us,” White Sox executive vice president Ken Williams told MLB.com of Abreu. “Not only on the field, but on the buses and the airplanes and all the things we talked about how much of an asset he’s been for us, was for us, all those years.

“It still holds true. We’ll miss him, but it was time for us to kind of go down a different path.”

That different path is Andrew Vaughn, who was taken third overall in the 2019 MLB Draft as a first baseman but has been playing out of position in the outfield over the past two seasons. Abreu, who ranks third all-time with his 243 home runs as a member of the White Sox, went to Houston via a three-year, $58.5 million deal.

There were countless pleasantries exchanged between Abreu and his former teammates during early batting practice, not to mention a short group conversation in center field before Thursday’s opening festivities. There even were playful pushes and on-field talks between Abreu and Tim Anderson over at first base, with Abreu finishing 6-for-16 and two RBIs.

General manager Rick Hahn compared seeing Abreu in an Astros uniform to being as strange as Michael Jordan wearing a Wizards jersey as opposed to his six-time championship association with the Bulls. Abreu smiled an appreciative smile, shook his head and responded with an overwhelmed but amused, “Ooof,” when that question was brought up to him in the press conference.

“Jordan is Jordan,” Abreu said through an interpreter. “I have the utmost respect but I’m entering a new stage of my life and new stage of my career.”

There will be much hoopla again on May 12-14 when Houston visits Chicago and White Sox fans get to celebrate Abreu. It wouldn’t stun me to see an announcement of his No. 79 jersey being retired, at that point, although it’s just a guess.

Nobody will be inclined to wear No. 79 again for the White Sox, and nobody should.

“I try to live in peace with everything I do every single day,” Abreu said. “I was grateful for the time I spent there, for all of you who were there from the first day you met me. ... The guys over there I respect, and they treat me with respect as well. The only thing I can hope for is they were healthy all season.”

“Always respect. He taught me a lot,” Anderson said of Abreu. “Hopefully he has a great season but not against us.”