When the rumor about the Red Sox’ interest in Jose Abreu popped up at the end of November, it struck me as superficially plausible but ultimately unlikely. There are too many free-agent first basemen around, and they keep a team from getting carried away with packaging prospects. On the other side, the White Sox would need more than a top-100 prospect/Addison Reed-type deal to convince them to deal their cornerstone.
Sure enough, that story hadn’t advanced at all over the last week, and now here comes Ken Rosenthal to douse it:
Barring an unexpected turn, the Chicago White Sox are unlikely to trade first baseman Jose Abreu to the Boston Red Sox or any other club.