When Chris Getz has talked about improving the White Sox -- even if it's more incremental or symbolic improvement than meaningful, contender-grade material -- the descriptions of his goals have made Eloy Jiménez an odd fit.
“We’re a team that needs to get more athletic,” Getz said. “I spoke about the defense, I think we’ve seen some of the baserunning that’s been frustrating, whether that be related to effort or the ability to take the extra base, all things that are being evaluated and most likely need to be adjusted."
Jiménez isn't particularly athletic, he doesn't offer defensive value, and he hasn't been able to provide a visually satisfying effort, and whether that's due to frequent leg injuries or bad work habits is your call.
This could also merely be a declaration of higher standards for the incumbents, and Jiménez just happens to fit the description.
His salary is no longer negligible, and he's more likely to be bought out of his $16.5 million club option for 2025 than retained because he's never played more than 122 games in a season. The lack of a long-term future means there's no real fear of upsetting him with tough love, although tough love would be more believable if Pedro Grifol were capable of showing it to anybody besides rookies.
Unlike Craig Kimbrel after the Sox exercised his option a couple of years ago, the White Sox don't have to deal Jiménez. He's one productive half away from boosting his trade value considerably, so the Sox should plan for a future that involves him (and bobsquad's post about Paul DeJong mentions that Marcus Thames has given Jiménez at least some thought).
That said, the market is barren enough for bats that Jiménez probably has some allure despite his struggles, and the White Sox are probably open to hitting fast-forward to reach life beyond him, so while the Sox and potential suitors might be far apart right now, it's feasible that somebody meets Getz's asking price, or Getz finds an offer that's good enough. The results could feel like 80 cents on the dollar, but 80 cents might look like a great price months from now if Jiménez continues to depreciate like a car.
At any rate, following up on a similar post about Dylan Cease from the previous week, Nick Deeds at MLB Trade Rumors published a post on Saturday looking for the best potential matches for Jiménez. Some of this ground was covered in many offseason plans, but this post does a good job of summarizing the best fits. He identifies the Diamondbacks, Mariners and Marlins in teams that could seek cost-controlled home-run potential from the DH spot, with the Angels, Brewers, Mets and Red Sox one tier down.
Spare Parts
I liked Daryl Van Schouwen's description of Getz's vision, which isn't asking too much:
There are multiple elements of the vision, including being better defensively, which in turn gives pitchers more freedom to attack the strike zone. It also includes being more athletic overall, putting together more competitive at-bats, controlling the strike zone better from pitching and hitting standpoints and promoting a tighter-knit clubhouse.
Here's one guy who you should expect to see on the spring training non-roster invitee list in a month or two. He fits the previous bullpen's m.o. by striking out a lot of guys, but walking tons as well.
The Braves can pay Reynaldo López handsomely because their lineup is essentially ironclad and adjustments to the pitching staff are all they have left to make. Rick Hahn skipped a couple steps before he binged on relievers.
Reading Travis Sawchik's survey of the sports-broadcasting landscape as the regional sports network model disintegrates, the White Sox might've picked a really poor time to put forth such a pathetic product.
"You have a question of how many fans are die-hard versus how many are not," Morris said. "If you force people to actively choose to seek this stuff out, spend a lot of money, you're going to really screen for the die-hards." [...]
Consider the Padres' situation. After MLB took over the club's broadcasts on May 30 when Diamond relinquished rights, 18,000 in-market subscriptions were purchased to stream Padres games via MLB.TV.
While that number would be higher if games weren't also being offered on a specially created local cable/satellite channel, Morris and Bouris both said we're learning how difficult it is to convert cable subscribers into buyers of DTC platforms specifically for sports.
