Jose Abreu is the White Sox position player who makes the biggest impact. Next year, he also wants to become the team’s most influential leader.
Gaining a better grasp of English, the Cuban slugger says, will go a long way toward achieving that objective next season.
“I want to be a leader and I know for that, I have to learn the language,” Abreu said Tuesday through a team interpreter. “And that’s my focus for this offseason, it’s one of the things that I have on my list.
“I know if I can express myself in a better way with my teammates and my coaches, it’s going to help our relationship. It is good (now), but it could be much better. I’m not just going to be a leader as an example. I’ll try to say something.”
Manager Robin Ventura said he is pleased Abreu wants to put words behind his actions on the field.
“It’s a good thing to hear because we know how he operates,” Ventura said before the Sox beat the Royals 4-2 Tuesday night. “We know how we comes every day and how he prepares and how he plays the game.
“Any time a guy like that wants to step up and lead, we’re happy to hear that.”
One of the recurring questions at the start of the Sox’s disappointing season concerned the leadership void left when Paul Konerko retired.
“We have it. But when you don’t win games, it just doesn’t look like it’s always there,” Ventura said. “We have guys who fill that differently than Paulie did.”
Sox pitcher Jeff Samardzija, who started Tuesday night’s game, said at the start of the season he wanted to be a team leader, even if he only takes the field every five days. His disappointing season has made it difficult for his voice to be heard.
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“(Abreu) can be both just because of how he goes about his work,” Ventura said. “There’s a lot that goes into it. But he is a guy who doesn’t speak a lot (now), except he tells the truth and he’s very upfront about it.”
Abreu also thinks the Sox need more than one leader. He cited Alexei Ramirez, Melky Cabrera, Adam LaRoche and Gordon Beckham as having “the voice to be leaders.”
“They have been doing some things because they also have the experience,” he said. “But each one of us has to be a leader, it’s not just one person. All of us … we have to work together and be a leader every day.”
In addition to becoming a stronger, more vocal leader, Abreu has something else very important on his to-do list during the offseason.
“I’m going to spend the majority of my time with my family and enjoy the company of my family, and Nov. 28 I’m going to get married (in Miami),” Abreu announced. “That’s something good, and enjoy my time with family and all my people there.”
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