Free agency has been heating up, and while the big names are starting to find new homes, some familiar faces from seasons past are quietly making moves of their own. One of those names? Eloy Jiménez - the former White Sox slugger who’s now looking to reignite his career north of the border.
The Toronto Blue Jays announced that they’ve signed Jiménez to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training. It’s a low-risk, potentially high-reward move for a team with October aspirations. And for Jiménez, it’s a fresh opportunity to prove he still belongs in a big-league lineup.
Now 29, Jiménez is no stranger to the spotlight. His 2019 rookie campaign with the White Sox turned heads across the league - 31 home runs, loud contact, and the kind of raw power that made him one of the most hyped young hitters in the game.
But since then, it’s been a frustrating stretch marked by injuries and inconsistency. Simply put, he hasn’t been able to stay on the field long enough to find his rhythm.
Last year, Jiménez didn’t appear in a single major league game. Instead, he spent time with the Tampa Bay Rays’ Triple-A affiliate, where the numbers didn’t exactly jump off the page: a .246 average, .330 OBP, just three home runs and 30 RBIs over 54 games. For a guy with his pedigree, that’s underwhelming - especially against Triple-A pitching, where he should be doing damage.
His last taste of big-league action came in 2024 with the Orioles, following a trade deadline deal from the White Sox. In 33 games with Baltimore, Jiménez hit just .232 with one home run and seven RBIs across 95 at-bats. It was a small sample, but it continued the trend of a once-promising bat struggling to recapture his early-career form.
That brings us to Toronto - a team with legitimate postseason ambitions and a roster that doesn’t have many soft spots. Cracking that lineup out of Spring Training won’t be easy.
The Blue Jays are deep, especially at DH and in the outfield, where Jiménez would likely slot in. But the invitation is there, and sometimes that’s all a player needs - a chance.
For Jiménez, this is about more than just making a team. It’s about proving he can still be the hitter who once looked like a cornerstone piece in Chicago.
The power hasn’t disappeared - it’s just been dormant. The question is whether he can stay healthy long enough to tap into it again.
Toronto’s gamble is simple: if Jiménez can find his swing and stay on the field, they might’ve added a legitimate bat to their depth chart without giving up much. And for Eloy, it’s a shot at redemption with a club that’s built to win now.
Spring Training will be telling. The tools are still there - now it’s a matter of showing he can put them to work.