Loyalty? Or selfishness?

Watching the Chicago White Sox these days, a part of me can’t help but wonder who’s smoking what with regards to the ballclub’s best player these days – Jose Abreu.

Potential Sox all-time star?

Yes, I know the team has several youthful ballplayers who have the potential to be stars that lead the White Sox to potential championships in coming seasons.

BUT THE FACT is that Abreu, the Cuban exile who came to Chicago back in 2013, has been THE significant part of the White Sox during this past decade. He’s also achieved enough in recent seasons that his name has to come up in any discussion of White Sox history.

Abreu, at 167 home runs is already amongst the top home run hitters in Sout’ Side baseball history. Wouldn’t it make sense that people would want Abreu to be the BIG BAT at the lead of the potential White Sox championship teams of the 2020s?

Yet the fact is that there is a significant share of White Sox fandom who would just as soon see Abreu depart. It seems the contracts he has had to play in Chicago come to an end after this season.

If the White Sox want to keep him, they’re going to have to come up with some sort of financial bonanza to make it worth his while to want to stay in Chicago.

BUT THERE’S THE fact that Abreu now is 32, which in traditional baseball thought, is the point in time when a ballplayer crosses over from his physical athletic peak and starts to become over-the-hill.

Also an Indian, Cardinal and Senator

Do the White Sox really want to pay big money to keep Abreu for a few more years to see if he can be a part of the White Sox’ next World Series title-winning team?

Would the team be better off letting him go to some other ball club, while relying on the big name peloteros such as Yoan Moncada, Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez to be the stars of the Sox?

For his part, Abreu says he wants to stay with the White Sox – going so far as to say he will sign himself to stay with the Sox even if the Sox themselves don’t make him a contractual offer beyond this 2019 season.

SO IS ABREU truly loyal to the Sout’ Side baseball scene? Or is he just being selfish in thinking about himself?

An Orioles team Hall of Famer

Actually, it’s the reason why I think old-timer fans who complain about modern ballplayers having no loyalty are full of it. The so-called loyalty of the past was usually one way – players were expected to give all to the teams, who would think nothing of trading away or releasing a player when it was to the team’s self-interest.

Heck, I remember when Frank Thomas (the White Sox’ most recent Hall of Fame player) expressed thoughts of wanting to play in Chicago his whole career. But the White Sox let him go willingly – and he wound up finishing with stints in Oakland and Toronto.

Even such White Sox notables as “Minnie” Miñoso and Harold Baines played for other ball clubs – with Miñoso also playing for Cleveland and Baines playing well-enough for Baltimore that he’s also a member of that team’s personal Hall of Fame. Or even legendary Sox like Luis Aparicio or Nellie Fox, who also played for Baltimore and Boston, along with Philadelphia and Houston respectively.

Sox combo also had their moments with Athletics and Orioles

SO MAYBE IT wouldn’t be the most outrageous deal if Abreu became a Yankee or a Red Sox for a few seasons. Who knows; that might be his best chance to actually be on a championship team.

One of the few life-long Sox

It’s not exactly out-of-line to think that the White Sox of the 2020s could find their championship dreams thwarted by the up-and-coming teams the New York Yankees are putting together these days.

Which actually would be in character with White Sox history, as the “Go Go” teams of the 1950s wound up finishing most seasons in second place behind the Yanks.

And we’ll have to see for ourselves just how much a part of White Sox history Abreu himself (will number 79 be the next uniform digit retired) is destined to become.

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Who will pay more for Machado?

Spring training camps for many major league baseball clubs, including Chicago’s own White Sox and Cubs, begin Tuesday for pitchers and catchers, with everyday players expected to show up at training camp by Sunday.

MACHADO: Type of image some want to see

So even though we don’t know yet where potential future Hall of Fame ballplayer Manny Machado (at least some want to fantasize) plans to play in 2019 and for the next several years, there’s still some time for things to settle themselves out.

I COULDN’T HELP but be amused by the weekend’s activity, which mostly centered around the latest rumors about how much money Machado is being offered by certain ball clubs who’d like to have him come play for their team.

All because the speculation is that Machado is a super star and will continue to be a super-duper super star for the next several seasons. Meaning it could be a big deal for whichever team he chooses to play for.

The feeling has been all along that Machado, who has spent the bulk of his time playing in Baltimore for the Orioles but also was a Los Angeles Dodger for part of 2018, wants the bright lights of the Big Apple.

He wants to be a New York Yankee. Which is why the reports on Saturday that the Yankees made him an offer of some $220 million for the next seven or eight years. Which is bigger than the past previous offer made by a ball club – the $175 million over seven years by our very own Chicago White Sox.

OF COURSE, I couldn’t help but notice that just a couple of hours after the report of the Yankees’ offer, there were reports saying the White Sox boosted their offer to $250 million for eight seasons of play.

Could Manny be as important to Sox … 

But I also noticed some news entities went out of their way to ignore the latter report. It’s almost as though some are taking sides as to which ball club they want Machado to wind up with. As though some think the White Sox aren’t worthy of buying a big-name ballplayer.

I don’t know how truthful that sentiment is. Only to say that Machado is going to wind up being paid a disgustingly large sum of money, regardless of which team he ultimately chooses to play for.

There is some thought that Machado’s wife, Yainee, is an influence. As in the Miami-area native likes the idea of life in New York City. As does Manny himself. Which could be a good part of the reason the free agency negotiations have extended from November all the way to the days before the beginning of spring training camp.

… as Luis (above) or Luke?

BUT COULD IT be that the White Sox, who still plan to have Machado’s brother-in-law, Yonder Alonso, and their childhood friend Jon Jay, both of whom are major league ballplayers in their own right, may wind up with the Miami-native star of Dominican ethnicity, could wind up with Manny?

Could it be those family ties will matter one bit? While helping to overcome the sentiment that Yankee pinstripes are more prominent than the White Sox version?

I don’t know what to think about where Machado will wind up, or if this situation will even be resolved by week’s end. My understanding is that Machado is a bit peeved that he’s not being offered something more than the current record-setting contract – the $325 million for 13 seasons that Giancarlo Stanton of the Yankees is receiving.

No matter how much Yanks offer, not likely to top Jeter in team history

He may well believe that the contract offers he has received are a gross insult – particularly since at age 26 he probably has more than a decade of playing time left at a star level.

WILL ANY OF that be played with the old-English script spelling out “S-O-X” on his jersey’s left breast. Will the day come when baseball fans seriously put Machado’s name up there with Luis Aparicio or Luke Appling (both Hall of Fame players in their own right) as the team’s best shortstop ever.

Could Manny become the next Garland?

Then again, could Machado go to the Yankees and find out he’s NOT the team’s best shortstop ever – falling behind such peloteros as Derek Jeter, Phil Rizzuto or Tony Kubek.

It will be interesting to see how the situation plays out, and how quickly? Because this could otherwise become a distraction for so many ball clubs. And a massive problem if Machado turns out to be the 21^st Century baseball equivalent of Wayne Garland – the one-time Baltimore Orioles pitcher who got a 10-year “big money” contract from the Cleveland Indians, only to suffer career-ending injuries after playing only two seasons.

It also will be intriguing to see whether Machado becomes someone who gets the cheers of the Bridgeport faithful in coming seasons, or becomes Enemigo Numero Uno for Sox fans who heckle him mercilessly every time his ballclub makes the trip through Guaranteed Rate Field.

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Would it change a thing if ‘Shoeless Joe’ were reinstated to baseball?

It has been 95 years since Joe Jackson played his last ballgame for the Chicago White Sox, and 63 years since he was even alive.

Still a baseball persona non-grata

Yet some people are determined to try to reinstate the man who got bounced from baseball following the 1919 World Series – which the White Sox lost to the Cincinnati Reds and for which Jackson was one of eight ballplayers later indicted on criminal conspiracy charges claiming he took money to lose ballgames.

OF COURSE, PEOPLE argue that Jackson was acquitted of those charges by a jury in Cook County, while others will claim that jury was so biased that their verdict was arguably more ridiculous than some people believe the “not guilty” verdict was for O.J. Simpson.

The problem becomes that whatever happened with the World Series that year and whether Jackson, or any, of the ballplayers took money from gamblers to lose happened so long ago that just about anybody who knew anything is dead.

This becomes a “paper trail” investigation that already came up with a result.

Which is why it would seem baseball officials aren’t about to do anything. Giving us such non-news headlines on Tuesday as “MLB won’t reinstate Shoeless Joe Jackson.”

THE SHOELESS JOE Jackson Museum that operates out of Jackson’s one-time home in Greenville, S.C., released a letter it received from baseball Commissioner Robert Manfred saying they don’t intend to do anything to change Jackson’s status.

The White Sox' all-time duo ...

“The results of this work demonstrate to me that it is not possible now, over 95 years since those events took place,… to be certain enough of the truth to overturn Commissioner (Kennesaw M.) Landis’ determinations,” which were that Jackson knew of efforts to throw a World Series and didn’t do anything to stop it.

Some claim that Jackson took $5,000 from gambling interests, but somehow managed to play well – coming up with numbers that indicate he didn’t stink (a high batting average, and the only home run of that World Series).

While others say this proves statistics don’t tell the full story, and in fact can be deceptive.

... won't become a trio anytime soon

ADMITTEDLY, THE JACKSON Museum has an interest – they’d like it if the guy they promote were to become an official part of baseball again. Rather than someone whom baseball would prefer to forget. Just like Pete Rose – who also has a lifetime ban from baseball for gambling (and a criminal conviction with six-month prison sentence for tax evasion).

Then again, I’m sure the White Sox would also like it if they could go back to publicly acknowledging that one of the greatest ballplayers ever wore their uniform – and that he could join Luke Appling and Frank Thomas as being among the greatest White Sox ever.

But aside from their marketing efforts, would it really change much. Would Jackson gain any points to his .356 lifetime batting average (second only to Ty Cobb’s .362)?

Would the White Sox gain any more wins to their lifetime career? It’s not like we’d get to change the 1919 World Series result and claim a victory over Cincinnati?

THERE WOULDN’T BE any one less person sneering or snickering at the White Sox for being the only team caught throwing a World Series (even though there have been rumors from other World Series and ballgames in general of that era having suspicious results).

Is Jackson plight more about backing Rose?

Or anyone thinking any less of Jackson from amongst those people who want to believe that Shoeless Joe would have been in the Baseball Hall of Fame decades ago – if only he hadn’t had that World Series stain on his record.

So I’m sure some people are going to be miffed at baseball officials for not being willing to resurrect this issue all these years later.

But barring the discovery of evidence that we can’t even conceive of at this point, it may be that baseball officials have the right idea in mind to just go forward. Rehashing the past never changes anything!

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