Eloy Jimenez will always be one of the biggest disappointments in Chicago White Sox history.
He came to the Southside with so much hope after being acquired along with pitcher Dylan Cease in a deal that sent Jose Quintana to the Chicago Cubs last decade.
Eloy provided a ton of excitement during his rookie season when he crushed 31 home runs in 2019. All that excitement turned into disappointment as the injuries piled up.
He had 20 different injuries during his five-and-half seasons on the Southside that caused him to only play in 100 games or more just twice. Even worse, he never hit more than 20 home runs after the 2019 season.
For someone who was a terrible fielder, he needed to crush home runs as a DH. The problem was he struggled to put the ball in the air. He hit just six home runs this season with the Sox and then with the Baltimore Orioles after Chicago AL's team finally gave up on Eloy.
His career has cratered so much that he is now settling for a minor-league deal with the Tampa Bay Rays.
This is a player that White Sox former general manager Rick Hahn was so confident would be great that he gave Jimenez a six-year, $43 million deal before he ever played a big-league game. Now, he is hoping to win a job in spring training with the chance to earn $2 million.
Eloy Jimenez, who was coming off a 6-year, $43 million contract with the Chicago White Sox, now will earn just $2 million if he makes the Tampa Bay Rays’ opening-day roster with $2 million in bonuses if he has 500 plate appearances, per @hgomez27
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 23, 2024
Honestly, this might be the best team for him to sign with as the Rays have had a history of reviving players' careers.
The Rays did it with Avisail Garcia, another former huge disappointment with the White Sox. The only difference between Garcia and Jimenez was Avi did make an All-Star team during his career season.
Garcia was supposed to be a cornerstone player for the Sox during the early part of the last decade. However, he never could live up to the hype outside of 2017 when he had a .330/.380/.506 slash line.
He went to the Rays in 2019 after a disappointing 2018 season and thrived with a .282 average and a wRC+ of 113.
Carlos Pena went from stud prospect two decades ago to being given up on by the Oakland A's, the Detroit Tigers, the New York Yankees, and the Boston Red Sox. The catcher ended up in Tampa in 2008 helped kick off the current run of success the Rays have been on.
That is why it would not be crazy to see the Rays unlock something the Sox never could with Eloy. Maybe they can get him to focus on taking care of himself as it was always speculated that once Jimenez got paid, he stopped working hard.
Minor league deal? Sheesh.
— Jordan Lazowski (@jlazowski14) December 23, 2024
(He’ll probably hit 50 homers though once they call him up) https://t.co/zo3f1DK66u
For a team like the Rays, this is a great low-risk, high-reward signing. If he stays healthy (that is a big IF) and can start lifting the ball again, there is a chance for the Rays to hit on another career revival.