The Blue Jays are set to add free-agent slugger Eloy Jiménez on a Minor League deal with an invite to Spring Training, according to multiple reports. The club hasn’t confirmed the deal.
Jiménez, 29, is looking to rejuvenate his career after spending 2025 playing in the Minors, producing three homers and a .673 OPS over 54 games. The Dominican Republic native began the year with the Rays organization but was released in July. He landed with Toronto on a Minor League deal in September and played six games for Triple-A Buffalo before the end of the season. Since October, Jiménez has been playing for Toros del Este of the Dominican Winter League (LIDOM).
Jiménez will compete for a spot on Toronto’s Opening Day roster this spring, but the Blue Jays' crowded DH picture could make it tough for him to carve out a role with the big league team.
The right-handed slugger is best known for his time with the White Sox, garnering considerable hype as one of baseball’s top prospects leading up to his big league debut in 2019. Chicago signed him to a six-year, $43 million contract that March, days before his first MLB game.
Jiménez looked the part of a future lineup cornerstone early on, crushing 31 homers with an .828 OPS as a rookie and recording an .891 OPS in the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign. However, his final four years with Chicago were defined more by injuries than anything he did in the batter’s box. The team traded him to the Orioles in July 2024.
Over 534 games spanning six seasons in the Majors, Jiménez has recorded 95 homers, 298 RBIs and a .780 OPS, including just a .626 OPS in 98 games for the White Sox and Orioles in 2024.