3:13 pm: Jimenez will earn a guaranteed $2MM salary if he makes it onto the team, reports Héctor Gomez of Z101 Digital. He can earn an additional $2MM in playing time incentives.
12:13 pm: The Rays are in agreement with designated hitter Eloy Jimenez on a minor league deal, per a report from Jesse Rogers of ESPN. The deal presumably includes an invite to major league Spring Training.
Jimenez, 28, signed with the Cubs out of the Dominican Republic as an international amateur and made his pro debut in 2014. He quickly rocketed up prospect rankings and was eventually included alongside Dylan Cease in the crosstown trade that brought Jose Quintana to Wrigley Field. Jimenez’s top prospect star continued to shine with the White Sox, and they eventually signed him to a long-term deal prior to his big league debut in 2019. The $43MM guarantee gave Chicago control over Jimenez for eight seasons in a record-setting deal for a prospect who had not yet made his big league debut.
The deal initially looked like something of a coup as the slugger burst onto the scene in the majors with a fourth-place finish in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2019 before Jimenez slashed .295/.332/.559 (138 wRC+) with 14 homers in just 55 games during the shortened 2020 season. Jimenez’s excellent offense helped to lead the White Sox to their first playoff appearance since 2008, and while they fell to the A’s in three games it seemed as though the South Siders were in position to compete for years to come with Jimenez as a key part of the core.
Things didn’t turn out that way, unfortunately. Jimenez was limited to just 139 games and 558 trips to the plate over the next two seasons due to a myriad of injuries, and while he posted a 125 wRC+ during that time the missed time combined with Jimenez’s lackluster defense in the outfield led Chicago to make him more or less a full-time DH going forward. While Jimenez stayed healthy enough to play 120 games in 2023, his offense left much to be desired as he slashed just .272/.317/.441 with 18 homers in 489 trips to the plate. That was good for a 105 wRC+ which, while above average, left him as a roughly replacement level DH (0.6 fWAR).
After losing 101 games in 2023, the White Sox were surely hoping Jimenez would rebound enough in 2024 to build up his trade value and bring in an interesting piece or two for the rebuild they had kicked off by trading away Dylan Cease and declining Tim Anderson’s club option during the offseason. Unfortunately, the slugger did anything but as he turned in by far the worst performance of his career in 2024. In 98 games with the White Sox and Orioles, Jimenez hit a paltry .238/.289/.336 and was worth -0.9 fWAR. That below replacement level production made it an easy decision for Baltimore to cut him loose this winter, making him a free agent for the first time in his career.
That’s led him to the Rays, who are coming off a disappointing 2024 season in large part thanks to a lackluster offense. Given Jimenez’s own offensive struggles, he’s hardly a guarantee to help with that. But adding a bat with his potential upside on a minor league deal can’t hurt the club’s efforts to but forth a stronger lineup in 2025, and even if Jimenez only manages the 105 wRC+ he posted 2023 that would still be an upgrade over the 97 wRC+ the Rays got out of their DH slot last year. Should Jimenez make the roster out of camp, he’d join youngsters like Christopher Morel, Jonathan Aranda, and Jonny DeLuca in vying for playing time in the outfield and at DH.