TORONTO.– The Toronto Blue Jays are reportedly close to signing Dominican hitter Eloy Jiménez to a minor league contract, which includes an invitation to the Major League team’s Spring Training, according to multiple reports, although the club has not yet officially confirmed the agreement.
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Jiménez,
29 years old, is trying to relaunch his career after spending the entire
2025 season in the minor leagues, where he hit
three home runs and recorded an
OPS of .673 in 54 games. The slugger started last year in the
Tampa Bay Rays organization, was released in July and subsequently signed with Toronto in September, seeing action in
six games with Triple-A Buffalo before concluding the campaign.
Since October, the slugger has been active in the
Dominican League with the
Toros del Este, seeking to stay in competitive rhythm for a new opportunity in organized baseball.
Competition for the designated position
Although Jiménez will be able to compete for a spot on the Opening Day roster, his path will not be easy. Toronto has several alternatives for the role of
designated hitter, so the Dominican will have to stand out during the preseason to secure his permanence.
A Talent Seeking to Resurface
Jiménez was one of the most sought-after baseball prospects before his debut in
2019 with the
Chicago White Sox, an organization that signed him to a
six-year, US$43 million contract just days before he made it to the Major Leagues.
In his early campaigns, he showed all his power: he connected
31 home runs with an OPS of .828 as a rookie and then recorded
.891 OPS in the shortened
2020 season. However, injuries marked the rest of his time in Chicago, which culminated in a trade to the
Baltimore Orioles in July
2024.
In
six seasons in MLB, Jiménez has
95 home runs, 298 RBIs, and an OPS of .780 in
534 games, although in 2024 his performance dropped to
.626 OPS in 98 combined games between the White Sox and the Orioles.
