MARCH 22: The deal is now official. The South Siders revealed all the terms. Jimenez gets a $5MM signing bonus and salaries of $1MM (2019), $1.5MM (2020), $3.5MM (2021), $6.5MM (2022), $9.5MM (2023), and $13MM (2024). There’s a $3MM buyout that applies to either of the options, which are priced at $16.5MM and $18.5MM, respectively.
MARCH 20: The White Sox have reportedly struck a historic extension with top prospect Eloy Jimenez. If he passes a physical, Jimenez stands to receive a record-shattering $43MM guarantee over six seasons, with a pair of option years that cost a cumulative $32MM. There’s also said to be a $2.5MM MVP bonus.
This contract will easily set a new bar for early-career extensions. To this point, only two players have ever agreed to pre-MLB debut extensions: Jon Singleton, who signed a $10MM deal with the Astros, and Scott Kingery, who inked a $24MM pact with the Phillies. Deals for players with less than a single season of MLB service haven’t gone much past Kingery’s earning level to this point, with Jimenez’s soon-to-be-teammate Tim Anderson promised $25MM and Paul DeJong of the Cardinals guaranteed $26MM.
Jimenez is widely regarded as one of the game’s five best prospects, but he has yet to take a single MLB plate appearance. The club recently optioned the 22-year-old back to Triple-A. While his showing in Spring Training wasn’t exactly stirring, it’s hard to say that Jimenez has anything to prove in the upper minors after a monster 2018 showing. In 456 total plate appearances at the Double-A and Triple-A levels, Jimenez turned in a .337/.384/.577 slash with 22 home runs and 32 walks to go with 69 strikeouts.
While it’s tempting to view this deal as buying out two potential future free agent seasons, that’s only true if the South Siders would have placed Jimenez on the Opening Day roster this year. Having already demoted him, that was not (and may still not be) the case. Teams that aren’t afraid to hold down top prospects for a few weeks are able to achieve nearly seven full seasons of output before a player reaches free agency.
Realistically, then, the Sox will only be adding one season of control. That might be an extremely valuable campaign, to be sure, as Jimenez will still be only 29 in 2026. The team will also pick up cost certainty over a player whose power potential gives him major arbitration earning upside. With a likely fourth arb-eligible season involved, Jimenez might have challenged for rather staggering sums. Of course, there are also plenty of ways in which he’d fall shy of his arb earning upside — an ill-timed injury, in particular — so there’s some degree of risk to the team and protection to Jimenez even if he turns out to be every bit as good as hoped.
While other aspects of the White Sox’ offseason didn’t turn out as hoped, they’ll now open the 2019 season with another player firmly tabbed as a part of the long-term core. Odds are Jimenez will be joined in the majors this year by top pitching prospect Dylan Cease. Both were acquired in the memorable mid-2017 deal that sent lefty Jose Quintana to the cross-town Cubs. The Quintana contract was one of several extensions that worked out quite well for the White Sox, enabling the team to acquire loads of top prospects when it decided to launch a rebuild. The Pale Hose are still waiting for those youngsters to establish themselves as quality MLB assets, though hope remains that some will reach their long-lauded ceilings — with Jimenez leading the way.
Dominican reporter Hector Gomez first tweeted the agreement. Dinisio Soldevila of Periodico Hoy had the primary contract terms (Twitter links), with Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (in a tweet) also contributing. Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter) reported that the deal was in place pending physical.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Wasn’t he just optioned to the minors?
Yes but I guess he gets recalled now?
No such thing as the sox getting an extra year here.
No. He’s going to stay in the minors for two weeks so they can control another year of service time. It’s pretty common
Except when you sign a guaranteed contract, service time basically goes out the window. Now he’s reaching free agency after 2026 one way or another.
Are you really being serious? If he signs a 8yr deal, service time becomes irrelevant
True- but it says some of it may come via options so we won’t truly know the nature of the options until the full report is out there
They aren’t keeping him in the minors if he signs an extension. It’s that simple.
He’s the next Gordon Beckham. Sign him fast. He may be as good as Carson Fulmer.
Great joke, man
Though I’m not a White Sox fan, I’m excited for you, Priggs. Hope Eloy Jimenez works out.
My favorite part is the $2.5MM MVP bonus. Has to be a record bonus for winning MVP 😉
I think it’s a smart move. People hating on this are just trolls.
Easy there, he’s got every chance to be the next Josh Fields.
Really missing the downvote option for idiotic comments like lefty58’s here.
Unfortunately very common. New CBA is going to be a battle about this issue, QO, contract length of years, Arbitration. All tough issues.
He could also be the next Kevin Orie or Felix Pie.. your point?
Glad to see players cashing in while they can
Right… good for them. Money now is usually better than money later
WIN WIN Tampa did it as well. Pay them more now and lock them to a team friendly deal. Even if they miss, its not as bad as a 10 year 300 million deal that looks bad in 5 years and is bad for 5 years.
Where will it end?
$1 BIL per year?!
Now they can stop messing with his service time. Hopefully this trend catches on. Maybe only with power hitters, that’s what pays in Arbitration.
The golden age of contract extensions. Get paid while u can.
For real this time?
Good forward thinking move and calculated risk
With zero MLB AB’s, this is moronic at best. This is a perfect example of why this team gets no respect in Chicago. The Vegas White Sox is getting closer to reality.
“With zero MLB AB’s, this is moronic at best. This is a perfect example of why this team gets no respect in Chicago. The Vegas White Sox is getting closer to reality.”
Yup they sure go ZERO respect when they won that WORLD SERIES TITLE in 2005 didn’t they?
Better deal than Boston gave Rusney Castillo who is still in AAA may never play in the majors. This was a good move. I am not even a CWS fan! I am a Tiger’s fan in Detroit. Its a very good move, TB did it and I think it is the new trend. Just be careful not to speculate on too many and try to get it right.
Eloy Jimenez won’t be the first White Sox or MLB player to receive an enormous payday before seeing the big leagues.
Jose Abreu signed a 6yrs/$68M free agent contract in October of 2013 after defecting from Cuba. Fellow Cuban Luis Robert also received a $26M signing bonus while Yoan Moncada got a $31.5M deal from the Red Sox before getting traded to the White Sox. Jimenez himself received a $2.8M signing bonus from the Cubs as a 16-year old a few months before Abreu’s FA contract.
Of course, Abreu’s deal was the only MLB contract before the expected Jimenez extension. The other three were all signing bonuses attached to minor league deals.
Lefty58 what is your opinion on the draft in any sport?
I thought the same thing when i read this. how many prospects RAKED in the minors then inexplicably couldnt hit in the majors. while they certainly fleeced the Cubs for Quintana, this extension could be a huge bust
I wish I had an easy way to look this up, but I’d honestly be willing to bet not that many if you factor in age and all his numbers. I’m sure you can find guys with similar OPS’s that have put up 30+ homers in the minors at a young age, but usually those guys aren’t hitting well over .300 with a K% well under 20. I don’t know his minor league numbers, but someone like Joey Gallo comes to mind – massive power to up his OPS but SIGNIFICANT red flag(s) with his giant K-rate and such.
“…moronic at best”? So what is this at worst?
It’s an incredibly low risk move since the 6 guaranteed years isn’t even that high of a guarantee. He would likely make close that sum if he proved to be an above average starter rather than star. If he does work out then it’s a huge surplus value for CHI.
You could easily pay him this after 1 maybe even 2 years up. Why would you give all this money to someone not knowing if it’ll work out. Look at Shelby miller, dansby, Tim Beckham pretty much any top prospect who tore up lower levels and wasn’t worth a thing. This is stupid money
Miller is a bad example because he was very good until his elbow blew. The reason to do this is to a) not get smacked with a grievance and b) they could have a lot of cost savings if he tears it up. Well wroth the risk when you figure how much an extension could cost after a ROY season
This is more money than arb would’ve paid him. Arenado has the record with $27 million. Paying him over $10 million a year with no service time is outrageous. He would still take this money after 1 year because he’s still not secure because of one good year and most likely still would take this covering his arb years knowing he’s not gonna make that much over those years. 98% of players don’t make $70 million through arb. You’re overpaying for absolutely no reason
” You’r”e overpaying for absolutely no reason”
No they are not.
1. This avoids any future grievance claims made by Jimenez.
2. You are assuming the same service time rules are in effect after the next CBA. I tend to thing that is very doubtful.
3. This is in good spirit of the game. Especially if Jimenez now makes opening day roster.
4. This also portrays good will towards Jimenez and EVERY OTHER player in MLB in future contract negotiations with the White Sox.
5. The white sox fans now have something to be excited about.
6. The white sox haven’t burned their bridge in a potential future contract extension with Jimenez as the Cubs have burned their bridge with Kris Bryant signing an extension due to manipulating a loop hole.
Could this backfire? Sure. But as a Cubs fan I will say this is a GREAT move by the White Sox. It is also a class act by their front office. I didn’t think I’d ever say that : P
This is factually inaccurate. Arenado made around $60M in arb in total as a Super Two. $27M was the single season record for a final year of arb. Eloy could certainly pull in $43M total in arb and this contract has the potential to buy 1 or 2 free agent years. So it’s a big bet for the team on a player with no ML time, but has the potential to save them tens of millions for the majority of the players prime.
@kc38
Are you serious?
If the Sox decide to bring him up for Opening Day, those 2 option years would have been his first 2 years of F/A, and that alone could’ve cost the Sox $75MM. Even if they waited the 2 weeks to bring him up, his final 2 years of arb plus what would be his first year of F/A could easily surpass $75MM, the way salaries keep rising.
At worst, the 6 years of arb for $43MM is not going to break the bank in any way. Technically they have more tied up in Robert (when you add in the penalty for signing him) than Eloy until the 2 option years kick in. That’s a shade over $7MM per year.
Maybe I’m not getting your math, but the only way the Sox are overpaying for Eloy is if he ends up a bust. If he’s not a bust, it’s a steal for the Sox.
What if he’s just average? The contract will make him untradeable. He has to be exceptional for this to work in CWS favor.
Price per Win Above Replacement is going up. $10.5 M per WAR in 2017. Eloy’s $75 M pays for ~7 Wins. Over/under at 7 Wins for 8 years of Eloy and you’re taking the under? Hmmm.
blogs.fangraphs.com/the-recent-history-of-free-age…
@stymeedone
Guaranteed 6 yrs/$43MM at an AAV of $7.2MM is hardly breaking the bank for him just being average. You do realize AAV is the important number when it comes to the tax threshold, right?
He could easily be tradeable if he’s simply average, depending at what point in those 6 years they would consider trading him if he were simply average.
Not like trying to move Heyward or Darvish. Moving those guys would be harder than trying to move the Hoover Dam. Even if he’s average it(s a market value contract. Bring back the downvote
The only way that the White Sox get any savings is if Jimenez is as good as Trout or Betts.
@Koamalu
What math are you using?
If Eloy is as good as Trout or Betts, you can easily double the amounts for his arbitration and 2 F/A years. Or more accurately, double his overall total and deduct about $20MM to $25MM for keeping him in the minors for that extra year of arb had he not signed this deal. Still a significant savings.
He doesn’t have to be THAT good for the Sox to realize savings on this deal. If he gets Konerko-type numbers, he would rake in arb & F/A years, leading still to pretty significant savings for the Sox.
He would have to bust for this deal to go bad, which is a possibility, but a risk worth taking. Who else are they going to give the money to, especially with next year’s F/A’s already getting locked up.
Less leverage in a year or two if he is what is expected. You also would pay waayyy more money if he is. You also don’t have to worry about service time with this deal
It’s a risk for sure, but at least two of those aren’t the best examples. Miller was a very good starter for a number of years and Swanson is coming off a 2.3 bWAR and is just 25.
Those are some horrible examples. Miller was good until he got hurt. Dansby is at least league average and still has plenty of room to improve – he also never tore up any level in the minor leagues with a reasonable sample size. And Tim Beckham has never been good at any level.
Rk: 222 PA’s, .717 OPS
A+: 567 PA’s, .695 OPS
AA: 478 PA’s, .728 OPS
AAA: 1102 PA’s, .701 OPS
I’m sure you can find better examples if you want to rip this deal…
Oh priggs89 just be quiet.
Should be on the squad right away
i wish they would say the source
This is not good news for players. He is being offered a below market extension under the threat of service time manipulation. Also now a potentially elite player is removed from any arb process so he can’t bump up precedent salaries for his peers if he performs well
This is a calculated risk for both sides. The player and team are both at risk, but the team is taking the greater risk upfront while the player risks more later on. How many times do these extensions work out for both parties?
How is it below market when he hasn’t even played a game yet ?
acm14: BINGO!!!!! Give that man a cigar!
Hard to call it below market when it’s double the pay anyone in his situation has ever been offered.
People said the same thing about Singleton… and where is he now? He is happy he took his deal and got paid.
You say that like the team doesn’t have a gamble in this. Say what you want but the Latin players come from poverty and they have a lot of friends & family to take care of so I think 9 outta 10 times Latin players will take the guaranteed money up front.
You make it sound like the player and agent had a gun to their head. It takes two to tango. The agent and player have to agree too. I think the union has to worry more about guys who just want enough to to take care of their families (Chris Sale did this a few years ago with the Sox too) and do not feel the need to put owners over a barrel for their ego.
You are also assuming that a team would not also renegotiate a contract extension for a player later to bump up their pay.
I get that the owners have tons of money (of course they are paying for things like stadiums/upkeep, employee payrolls (other than players, like stadium workers, lawyers, promotional), marketing, concessions, travel, etc etc), but I’m tired of this narrative that these ‘poor’ guys (who pay a game and make millions by the way) are getting shafted here.
Only if revenue keeps coming in. Otherwise bad business model. Doctors and nurses saving life’s and keeping people heathy don’t make this annual cash. We have lost our values. Seems like entertainment has become our best valued enjoyment. Wish people finding cures for terminal diseases had a high priority. Until some is personally effected, it isn’t a priority. Sad.
Your logic is flawed. These players and entertainers bring in money to their industry and based on a collectively bargained union contract, the players share that money. Doctors and nurses, while important work, are not generating revenue to the extent entertainers are for thei industry
doctors can charge as much as they want. But if they charge too much nobody will come to their office
When was the last time 40,000 people showed up to watch a triple bypass surgery?
Or another way to look at it:
There are roughly 900 MLB players on the planet. If there were only 900 doctors on the planet, don’t you think those doctors would be earning hundreds of millions of dollars every year?
This comment is beautiful. Comparing someone who can hit a ball with one who saves lives.
Let’s look at in a different way. Suppose there were only 900 garbage collectors. Using your logic they deserve millions.
Are tens of thousands of people showing up on a nightly basis to watch these garbage collectors? Is the garbage collector’s company getting a massive TV deal with tons of ad revenue? If so, they’d certainly have an argument.
Yes, because they could demand it by virtue of market scarcity.
Anyone trying to use the straw man of comparing baseball contracts to doctors is just proving they have no idea what they’re even mad about.
Baseball players get the money they do because of rather simple economics. They’re they best at a profession with limited employee space that makes billions of dollars. That makes the profit per employee ratio astronomically higher than that of the medical field.
Considering baseball as a business cannot maintain this profit/employee ratio without high quality employees putting the actual product on the field, the employees have huge leverage in how much of these profits they make.
Morality has no place in the equation. It’s pure cold, logical business. Trying to inject anything else into it is just telling at clouds, because morality doesn’t matter in the final spread sheet.
If you wanna lament the state of society, I recommend a political forum.
Why yes. In your world of supposing, where only 900 garbage collectors exist, millions should be the bare minimum for their services.
And they would. Clearing away filth is serious business (and professional garbage collectors are well compensated professionals.)
hide your kids and hide your wife, they’re out here extending everyone
hey, id be fine with that money.
Yeah, go ahead and show my daughter where to sign
if the reported range of 65-70 mil is true, this could be the largest contract handed out by the white Sox (abreu 68 mil)
now thats how to avoid the service time issue. Blue Jays, your move.
There is absolutely no way Vlad Jr gets an extension this year.
Hes 19. Hes currently “hurt” which negates the need to manipulate his service time.
Next offseason. Sure, if he hits 30 dingers with an ops above 850
Dumb White Sox doing their usual dumb things. His first 3 years are practically free. So even if he’s a mega superstar and goes 10/20/30 Arb, you don’t save all that much.
43 million over 6 years is hardly a large expenditure.
Large or not, it was unnecessary. Their worst case exposure was probably only about $15 million more than that and the kid would have to substantially prove himself for that to have happened.
But it was indeed large. It was by far the largest contract given to a player that hasn’t played a game in MLB. Why?
Worst case exposure is well more than $15M. Arenado topped out around $60M in arb as a Super 2 so Eloy could have pulled $40-$50 in arb alone with arb prices continuing to rise.
The White Sox are essentially getting an FA year (or 2) for free if Eloy plays at a star level. The actual worst case exposure would look more like $67M ($60M for two FA years + $50M total arb earnings – $43M contract) in this scenario. $37M if you want to assume they wouldn’t have manipulated his service time for the extra year (but let’s be honest, they would have since he’s back in the minors now).
I have to backtrack myself here. I see the contract only covers arb and there’s an additional $32M in options. So yea the potential savings are probably closer to that $37M figure than the $67M
@FSF
Funny thing about your argument is if he becomes a megasuperstar, those 2 option years at $16MM each become $30MM to $40MM each if he hits the F/A market or the Sox are able/willing to extend him before he hits F/A. That’s what suddenly makes this deal necessary and very smart. Granted, this deal is still a risk, but at an AAV of almost $7.2MM for the first 6 guaranteed years, it’s a risk worth taking.
Since they haven’t reported any numbers yet, I would venture a guess to say that they have years 4-6 as the vast majority of the value with buyout money not included. I would say $5 million of the $43 is buyout, with probably $600 in each of the first two years and $1 million in year 3. That leaves $35.8 for three years of “arbitration” salaries.
Still would be “practically free” (your words) in his first three years.
Can the Padres please do this too!
Please! Tatis Jr. for 8yrs/$55m and get him in the opening day roster.
Ah the Evan Longoria situation all over again.
Sign this extension or stay in the minors til we get an extra year of control.
There was no reason to do this with a kid that hasn’t played a game yet. It’s quite the unneeded gamble
They lose a whopping $7M/yr if he’s absolute trash. And if he’s not, they get to keep him for 8 years at an extremely reasonable price. It’s really not much of a gamble.
When has Reinsdorff ever considered even a $1 million a year not a “whopping” amount let alone $7 million
It might be a gamble, but I would argue a low risk gamble. If he turns out to be another one of their prospect busts, so be it. It’s not a huge financial commitment at all. I actually applaud the move. It’s been made painfully obvious throughout the years that they’re not exactly a hotbed for top FAs, why not take a SMALL gamble on one of their own.
It’s not even a question of how risky the gamble is. It’s that it wasn’t even remotely necessary to gamble in the first place.
Of course it was necessary. Do you think he signs this same deal in a year if he hits 30 bombs with an .850 OPS? No chance. They are locking him in now because they clearly have seen enough to make them believe the risk is low. Anything can happen, but this is a great move.
What percentage of players, not just rookies, hit 30 bombs with an .850 OPS? Not saying it can’t happen, just playing the odds.
Yeah, my point wasn’t that that type of year would happen, or was even likely. The post before mine said that there was absolutely no upside to doing it, and my point is that there of course is. If he has a rookie year like Mark McGwire and Sox didn’t do this, then this deal wouldn’t be accepted in a year.
How ridiculous is it that you consider $7 million a year not that much? This is not Monopoly money we are talking about. That is twice the amount the average American worker makes in an entire career in just one year. And you are talking about it like it is chump change.
I get that the salaries are commiserate with baseball revenue, but can we please stop talking about life-changing money for 95% of the population as if it is loose change found in the sofa?
I agree with everything you said and it’s actually more than 4 times the average/median lifetime earnings of an average American, who makes under $45K per year.
It’s ridiculous that you’re trying to compare an athlete/entertainer’s salary to that of the average American worker. $7M/yr is NOT THAT MUCH for someone in his profession. Keep fighting the fight for middle class America though, we really need you.
You’re making the mistake of comparing these guys to the average joe. Jimenez has a very real chance at being a superstar player. You look at some of the recent arb deals that guys like Arenado, Donaldson, Lindor, etc. have got and you realize that 7 million is chump change in this industry. There’s no reason to be a billionaire apologist.
But it is THAT MUCH for someone who you’re not even obligated to pay more that $600K per year over the first 3.9 years. THAT is the point. It’s a ton of money to pay where you didn’t have to gambling that he’s basically going to be the next Mike Trout. Not just a very good all star caliber player.
$7M is basically the equivalent of loose change found in the sofa for billionaire owners though (not quite but you get the idea).
No one here actually believes $7M is “not that much.” But baseball discussions occur in a specific context (i.e. $7M as a small percentage of total baseball revenue) versus a general context (i.e. $7M is a **** ton of money to you and I). You’re taking a point made in a specific context and applying it to a general context.
Do I think we as fans sometimes just see $7M as a number associated with a player and not actually $7M in currency? Sure, but in the specific context of the game of baseball $7M is an insubstantial amount.
Regardless of their profession, they are not the ones talking about it. YOU ARE. It’s still more money than you are likely to ever have. Get some perspective.
Even if he’s just a good player the team comes out in the positive. From several of your comments it just doesn’t seem you fully understand the terms of the contract nor how arbitration works.
If he were a Super 2 the team has to start paying him a real salary in his third year and he would total 4 years in arbitration. The deal also buys out 1, if not 2 FA years.
Dexter Fowler made something like $23M in arb and arb doesn’t reward Fowler’s skill set nearly as well as Eloy’s. But assuming a similar arb experience for Eloy would leave 1-2 FA years covered by the remaining $20M. This is a lower percentage outcome for Eloy and the club is still around the break even point.
You’re trying to compare a professional athlete’s salary to that of the average American worker, and I need to get some perspective? Irony at its finest.
But you’re right about one thing – I AM talking about their salaries. I’m also comparing it to other salaries in their same field, not to a McDonald’s burger flipper’s salary. And in their field, $7M/yr is NOT THAT MUCH. Get some perspective.
If you approached me and asked if $7M was a lot of money I would say yes. If you approached me and asked if $7M was a lot of money for a pro baseball player I would say not really.
Now say you approached me and asked if owning 12 cats was weird I would probably say yes. If approached me and asked if a cat breeder owning 12 cats was weird I would say no.
It’s all about context, but that point is clearly lost on you. We all know $7M is actually a lot of money but in the context of baseball it simply is not a lot of money.
I understand completely the points here. What you are not getting is that Eloy has NO proven skill set at the moment. You are comparing him to Dexter Fowler who was in the big league for 3 years BEFORE he received that $23 million. Eloy is now guaranteed almost twice that amount. Dexter Fowler is not a superstar, but he has been a good to very good MLB player. We have ZERO idea whether Eloy will be an MVP-level superstar or an All Star or a journeyman or a complete washout. He could be any of those things, but the White Sox are now paying him as if he is guaranteed to be twice the player of Dexter Fowler for 6 years.. He COULD end up as that, but there is a much better chance that he won’t.
Baseball is a game predicated on physical ability which players lose in a short amount of time.
Executive compensation is based on their years of industry specific experience which takes decades to aggregate.
You’re arguments continue to fail to take context into account.
I am tired of talking to a wall. It’s just not fun anymore. Enjoy living in your dream world.
He has a proven skill set, he just has no demonstrated ability in MLB to hit at the top level. That is a huge difference, and enough to make the White Sox comfortable with the risk.
Well I will say. I did mistake that the extra 2 option years have an additional $32M cost. So the team is much more likely to break even on the arb years than get substantial savings.
However, the points about the context specific nature of $7M still stand.
I’ll also back track here and recognize I left out the price of the options. So there’s definitely some downside for the white Sox here
So Bryant still makes 600k for the Cubs. I thought for sure he made more. He came up in 15,16,17,18 so he’s only made 2.4mil. What a steal for the cubs
They lost $43 million if he is trash. If you are a betting man, put your money on him never being even average in the majors. While there is a 70% chance he makes it to the majors for more than a cup of coffee, there is an even higher chance he never plays above average ball in the majors. Good luck to him and the White Sox, they are going to need it.
That amazing for Chicago.
Instead of sending him down and calling him back up, playing that game. They bought out 7 years of service at a fairly cheap price. No reason for him being in the minors now. He’ll be called up asap.
Hector Gomez was right about this. Too bad the Machado prediction was incorrect.
To be fair he also said it would be a $100 million contract originally.
I mean, he got the number wrong on Jimenez, but the years were correct. And he was correct on the 8, $250MM for the white Sox offer to Manny.
A great axiom: never turn down your first fortune.
This is great if you’re Eloy. I’m not sure if I’d pull the trigger this early if I’m the White Sox. What’s the hurry? The commish out to remind management that there’s no gambling rules in MLB.
As extensions are becoming a common trend I wonder will other teams do this with their best prospects ? If so than arbitration will be extinct
Some extensions happen every spring. This is not a trend.
Once he signs it he will magically be all ready for the majors lol
Dude has not had one ML at bat yet — take the $$ and run
Let’s go AA get Acuna, Albies & Camargo done. Maybe that will motivate Dansby to reach his potential. Get the position players done early then in 2 yrs start on the young arms.
Maybe this is some sort of gamble on how the next CBA agreement is going to shake out because it make almost no sense to me as it stands today under the current agreement.
Scouts from every organization peg this guy as a can’t miss perennial All-Star. $7M/Yr for the next 6 yrs. Health is a risk, but really minimal for the extra 2 years. The White Sox have to spend payroll somewhere.
IMO, more of a PR move. The White Sox have been absolutely hammered by the media and fans for their half-hearted Manny Machado debacle. This changes the subject before another down season begins.
I could see some value in the deflection strategy.
Didn’t scouts peg Beckham, and Moncada, and Fullmer as can’t miss prospects? Didnt they also peg Sale as being too slight of build to be a starter? Go back 5 years and look at the top 100 prospects, then tell me how being pegged as a can’t miss prospect should mean anything to me.
This is awesome. Makes Eloy a top trade piece after the ’21 season to jumpstart the next failed rebuild
Ballsy unnecessary financial obligation.
Hope it works out. I love seeing the top prospects live up to their hype.
Completely disagree with any team giving out an extension of notable size to a player who has yet to play (aside from brief September call ups) in the major leagues. It’s absolutely crazy. From a Padres fan, I sincerely hope they don’t attempt this with the likes of Tatis Jr….. although it doesn’t appear that they will. The thought of locking a good amount of money into somebody who hasn’t played in the majors yet baffles me.
the way arbitration has been paying out the better players recently, and with the mega deals these guys are receiving before they hit FA under 30, these rookie extensions/extensions well before FA are likely going to become the new norm
preller would be foolish to not lock up tatis jr for a measly 7-8 per year. especially considering his first arb year could net him well above 10+ per year
Look at what Betts is making in arb and how small an effect on payroll Eloy and Anderson’s deals will have on the White Sox payroll, even if they flop.
Then rethink yoy hesitation on Tatis Jr.
@pplama
correctomundo
I’m betting Elroy and Anderson’s deals have more of an effect on the CWS payroll and what they can afford to do moving forward than Betts’ deal does on Boston’s.
In this case there is really no risk. White Sox have mountains of payroll space and Eloy has a very high ceiling. Scott Kingery last year is a better example of an unnecessary bad early extension
I agree —- if you know talent and have seen Eloy play, then there is no risk beyond the normal risk on any MLB contract. Health is a risk for one year contracts, too. Eloy has serious talent. This deal simplifies the situation for both team and player.
They have all that space because no one wants to sign with them. Unless they vastly overpay.
Exaclty so they wont be signing many big free agents. Eloy contract wont hold them down in any way.
All early signings have turned out bad for the team as far as I can tell. Other than Cuban and Japanese players, if you can find a single player that signed before the end of their 1st year in the majors and were successful players, let us know.
Huh… who signs major league deals before other than Cubans and Japanese???? Unless you’re talking about Latin players who sign when they’re 16 year olds… and if that’s case… the answer would be every successful Latin player in Major League Baseball.
Yep Abreu what a terrible sign he only played in Cuba , same with TANAKA. Doesn’t the first round draft pick in MLB get about a 10 mil signing bonus ?
I see on the surface where the criticism is coming from, the kid has never seen a ML pitch, he’s coming off a horrendous spring, batting .073 BUT, if you dig a little deeper, I understand and even applaud the W Sox for buying up his arb years and adding an extra year of control. He could end up being a AAAA player like Buxton, Moncada, etc… sure, BUT he can also end up being an All Star caliber player. Is this a desperate move? Perhaps, but consider the circumstances. It’s been made painfully obvious that the W Sox are not an attractive FA destination. So what are their options? Sign their high prospects, even if they have to overpay for arb years. Where else are they gonna spend the money?
I get that Moncada was underwhelming to say the least in his 1st full year in the bigs. Their young pitchers have wet themselves and/or their arms blew up. I get it, but are they supposed to assume that all their prospects are gonna be busts? I like this move by the W Sox. They get plenty of criticism for their questionable moves and/or non moves. I get it, but I think they were smart on this one.
No you don’t assume they will all be busts, but you are foolish if you don’t prepare for the possibility that they could be busts.
They don’t have a choice. Eloy very well could be a bust like the rest of their “prospects”, sure, BUT that’s the only lane the W Sox can travel in. The last legit FA they signed in his prime was Albert F’n Belle. Machado just said thanks but no thanks so he could play for the F’n Padres. So, if they can’t sign FAs, they have to roll the dice with their prospects. If Eloy wets the bed like the rest of them, than so be it. It’s not like that money would be going to some stud FA anyway. I like the gamble by the W Sox. (BTW, I’m not a W Sox fan, not even sort of)
The current regime does have a good track record of finding busts. Maybe it’s time to assume.
That’s fair. I guess we’ll see if Eloy can break that norm. His spring was horrible, he’s never played in a ML game, so I get it. I still think he’s got a chance to be really good.
It’s just ridiculous that proven players such as Carlos Gonzalez, Gio Gonzalez, and Adam Jones are forced to sign minor league deals while this guy who has done absolutely nothing yet gets $42.5 million guaranteed. I realize those players are not exactly young, but they are proven big leaguers. Jimenez might be a top 5 prospect, but so were Jesus Montero, Colby Rasmus, Brian Matusz, Joba Chamberlain, Brandon Webb, and Jeremy Hermida. And that was just from a 5 year period. Hope he’s better than Jon Singleton or Jose Tabata.
Adam Jones and CarGo really arent good anymore. Look beyond batting average and “he is a good leader”. Anyone with a clue knows this. The whole world and their mother would take a top prospect over the 3 guys you listed
I am part of the whole world and I have studied baseball for many years and I would not. My mother might, but she doesn’t know baseball that well. She’d just take the one with the nicest eyes.
You would be fired and your team would have been the Baltimore Orioles. You must be joking because no one with a straight face would take Adam Jones over Eloy
And your team would have been the Birmingham Barons. I’ll take the Orioles over that.
Not everyone has to think like you. There is no one right way to build a team. There are very few things in life in which there is just one right way to do things.
That’s why you watch baseball and are not in a major league front office. CarGo & Adam Jones are role players now and the market is not kind to those type of players.
It’s slowly becoming a pay for what you will do instead of pay for what you did. My opinion the clubs have a lot higher risk going this way
Hiflew, there’s no way you could actually want Jones or CarGo over Jimenez. You must be trolling.
Never said that lol. You were talking about 1 spot on a team. Not the entire roster. And i said the Orioles because their old regime didn’t care at all about the farm and only focused on overpayed veterans that only had value to them, because they were so far behind the rest of baseball
The reason you take the prospect over those guys is because the prospect costs less. That’s not the case anymore.
Both Jones and CarGo were MLB average hitters last season. While they don’t play good defense anymore, neither does Jimenez. Jones and CarGo are proven products and average is better than most top prospects ever produce, even guys like Jimenez.
It’s basically a 3 year/40M deal if you consider the major league minimum isn’t really a choice.
I like the cost certainty though so if he were to be traded his Arb salary would be a non factor, plus he starts the year in the majors.
How about finding out if he can play in the majors first?
You act like scouting, data, and raw numbers do not exist in the minors.
Why pay trout that much? I mean why not find out the next two seasons he plays he’ll be healthy?
Oh! because there’s an established market and data trends that make sense for all of this.
Worse case is the team gambled on a 20 year old mega prospect. Would you rather it be a player signed into his late 30s?
I don’t like this move. I think it’s stupid to give someone a deal before they have a single MLB at-bat, and now you’ve also taken away the financial incentive for him to perform.
Sox were also stupid to give Tim Anderson an extension.
Even for the White Sox, this is embarrassing. Wow.
A pandering move to the fanbase after low balling Manny Machado and knowing full well that Bryce Harper was never going to sign with the White Sox.
All for a guy who has achieved jack squat in the majors.
A horrible example to set for the rest of their league! Not all prospects – even sure bets – pan out. I hope this deal flops badly.
A first year player actually getting paid what he’s financially worth to a team… Yes, what a terrible, terrible example
I think we now know what screen name Bud Selig comments under…
As he hasn’t played yet, we don’t yet know if he’ll be worth what he’s getting.
He’s worth far more than that already, we know that. When (not if) the Sox see a spike in ticket sales when he suits up, they make their money back for this season. All he has to do is be healthy, and next season he pays for himself as well.
Basically so long as he’s not terrible, the Sox are still coming out ahead financially.
He has to be Trout for the White Sox to come out ahead. Only a handful of players have earned more than $43 million through arbitration. Not many players are Arenado or Betts.
I’ll also back track here and recognize I left out the price of the options. So there’s definitely some downside for the white Sox here
Eeek! That’s nuts.
Wow. I guess Hector Gomez was right after all (well, sort of). This is yet another team friendly deal for Hahn. Say what you will about Hahn, but he’s been great with signing team friendly deals. Now if he can figure out how to get a marquee F/A to the South Side, that’s the epic challenge over the next couple years, since Machado looked to be his best bet.
What cracks me up is the “If he passes a physical” part. I have a feeling he’s going to pass the physical, otherwise Hahn has some serious explaining to do.
Team friendly? To what end? They can’t ever sign anyone who matters. Keeps his bean counting owner happy though.
I was referring to guys like Sale, Q, Eaton, TA. And if you don’t like TA as an example, then boot him off this list. The other 3 are still great examples.
See, what you praise as sound negotiating by the front office, I view as being cheap. It’s biggest reason top free agents don’t come to Chicago. There simply no hope of the Sox or cubs outbidding anyone unless they’re a 2nd tier player or severely undervalued.
What you view as being cheap, I view as being smart. Would you rather have signed Sale, Q, and Eaton a few years back to $200MM deals each just to show the rest of baseball that they are not cheap? Maybe you forgot how mediocre the team was with those 3.
There’s no way you get both Eloy & Cease for Q if it wasn’t for his team-friendly contract. Ditto for Eaton for Lopez & Dunning. You probably get Moncada for Sale, but not Kopech also, not with KW itching to rid Sale for his antics.
With all the salaries constantly spiraling out of control with no end in sight, if I can sign quality players to team-friendly contracts, I am definitely taking advantage of those opportunities. I would be stupid not to.
If you’re one of those who called the FO cheap for the Machado situation. Yup, 8 years $250MM at an AAV of a measly $31.25MM was certainly a slap in the face to Machado, wasn’t it. You see how silly that sounds. Almost as silly as slamming them for being cheap when pouncing on opportunities to strengthen their future by signing guys to team-friendly deals.
So does anyone actually know of this means he is making the opening day roster now? I think if he all of a sudden does the Sox are basically admitting they sent him down for that extra year. Which I’m ok with actually.
Can’t find a straight answer. Some say he can start he year on the 25 man, other say, because they already sent him to minor league camp, the Sox have to wait 10 days into the season.
Either way, of course they’ve admitted they were not only gaming his playing time, but using as negotiating leverage against him.
Paging Ross Atkins
Everyone is getting scared after Trout signed his deal. Teams are taking a risk, but are hoping to sign their future franchise players for less.
Given cost of players before they hit mlb, who do would you think would be most likely to reject this trade.
Jay’s send sanchez, stro, Giles and smoak to SD for tatis, two prospects 17-20 range on sd prospect list, and assume all of hosmer contract.
I would of thought sd in past would be the for sure know, but gets them out that contract after Machado and puts them in real win now.
Toronto would then be nicely set up for future…vlad Jr tatis and bichette in the infield. Disgusting
Given cost of players before they hit mlb, who do would you think would be most likely to reject this trade.
.
Jay’s send sanchez, stro, Giles and smoak to SD for tatis, two prospects 17-20 range on sd prospect list, and assume all of hosmer contract.
I would of thought sd in past would be the for sure know, but gets them out that contract after Machado and puts them in real win now.
Toronto would then be nicely set up for future…vlad Jr tatis and bichette in the infield. Disgusting
Nope!
I find it hilarious that I read the link to the Q trade, and neither wcr or X commented on that. Now if it’s not one, it’s the other. But no way they’re the same person. Smh.
Lol Cubs fan 2489 with new account.
You just figured this out? Lol
I find it hilarious an obsession is at this level.
Funny
It’s a good move for the Sox. It removes the potential grievance that Eloy would have filed down the line. Unlike the Kris Bryant situation.
6/43 isnt bad for an organization with the most payroll flexibility for the next 4 years. Even if he fails it’s worth the risk of avoiding arbitration and it’s not an Adam Dunn/LaRoche situation of wasting 12 million a year.
Also the Sox already spent 53 million on Luis Robert.
Record shattering? Is this dude trying to be funny? Mike Trout just signed an extension 2 days or so ago with Anaheim.
Worth an earth shattering record breaking nearly 400 mil more than him.
Not even close to what he was talking about. Use your brain a little bit.
“This contract will easily set a new bar for early-career extensions. To this point, only two players have ever agreed to pre-MLB debut extensions: Jon Singleton, who signed a $10MM deal with the Astros, and Scott Kingery, who inked a $24MM pact with the Phillies.”
Use your brain and read the sarcasm..
it’s not his fault you’re just very, very bad at conveying that in text form.
Man, I hope your in-person delivery of sarcasm is significantly better than your text delivery.
At risk of stating the obvious, it’s a record for a player in his service class.
You must’ve missed the sarcasm too.
Everyone did
Over to you Jays! Come on now, this is the new norm. Sign Vlad and get him here opening day.
From the player perspective this is a huge windfall, almost an offer you can’t refuse. He would’ve made a little over a million over the first two years before qualifying for super 2 but now gets $5 million upfront plus much more than he would’ve made pre-arb. Sure he could’ve made more if he went year to year but imagine the PV wouldn’t be all that different plus it avoids risk. I understand it from the Sox perspective, it extends their window slightly, gives cost certainty and spreads the dollars a bit. Still seems a bit risky but they obviously are big believers in his talent.
This move just doesn’t make any sense in any manner but then again it is the White Sox
Cost certainty is always a good thing for the team. Now they know exactly how much they have to set aside for him when trying to figure out how much they can spend on other people.
For all the rhetoric about the Jimenez contract, it changes nothing about the outlook for this season. Eloy was going to be here anyway just a matter of when. I am seeing another 90-100 loss season, particularly when I see the performance in spring training of the staters. Nobody wants to see the Sox do anything to hurt the rebuild. Even if they didn’t get Machado., there were and still are free agents who could help get to be a winning team, so next season free agents might want to come here. Sign a Dallas Keuchel and show the fAns a sign. I hear “he’s too old” would you rather have Dallas Keuchel or Lucas Giolotto this year? Case closed.
Agree on Dallas Keuchel but even without him the White Sox should not lose 90 games or more in 2019. Lucas Giolito’s spring has been disappointing but the numbers that the others have put up are less worrisome, especially with a veteran like Ivan Nova. Ervin Santana has also just begun appearing in Cactus League games and should be ready to go when the White Sox finally need a 5th starter in the second week of April.
Keuchel would be a great get as a Mark Buehrle clone but I’m still rather bullish on a starting 5 of Carlos Rodon, Reynaldo Lopez, Nova, Giolito and Santana. Dylan Cease is also expected to make his MLB debut later this summer and the White Sox also have a nice mix of veteran and young power arms in their bullpen. I believe the pitching staff overall will be much improved over 2018 and could become quite formidable beginning in 2020 with Michael Kopech fully recovered from his TJ surgery.
Eloy is the next Babe Ruth!
Money is no object!
Go Eloy!
I think you mean “Eloy is the next Kyle Schwarber,” since Kyle Schwarber is already the “next Babe Ruth.”
If Eloy Jimenez produces as expected this is a great deal for the White Sox while providing excellent long term security for the player and his family. He will make substantially more than the MLB minimum over the first 3 years of the contract (plus a signing bonus) with the last 3 covering what would have been his arbitration seasons. If he does become the generational power talent many expect, even those two additional option seasons will be relative bargains. Finally some good news from the White Sox this offseason after losing out on free agents Manny Machado and passing on Bryce Harper.
If Jimenez is on the opening day roster as expected he now becomes the prohibitive favorite for the AL Rookie of the Year award with Blue Jays slugging prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ailing and having already been demoted to AAA.
oh poor players not getting paid………….as everyone continues to get paid
Well, I guess I kind of see what the White Sox is thinking; the return, if the deal pans out, is much greater than the loss, if the deal does not pan out. Also they must be thinking that, statistically, the chance of Jimenez finding a success at Major League level is higher than not.
With that said, I am not a fan of such a deal because there is absolutely no guarantee that he will make it (although, yes, there is more than a good chance he will be better than the league average).
We will just have to wait and see.
I don’t see why everyone doesn’t think this is good. Eloy wins. He is financially secure for rest of his life, if he isn’t stupid with money. Sox win if Eloy is above average, deal is great for them. The rate the market is headed he would have commanded a lot of money. This deal is also back loaded, so if it isn’t working, they will find someone to take his deal as it isn’t unreasonable.
Anyone remember Mike Hessman? Can’t miss HR hitter who spent virtually his entire career killing it only in the minors.
He was a horrible hitter and struck out about twice as often as Eloy. This is the EXACT type of player I was talking about it my earlier post – thanks for providing a good example. Eloy is much, much more than just a HR hitter.
Wonder how teams can only win once every hundred years, this deal gives you all the clues you need to figure it out.
LOL you silly boy! Never lose that silliness. We could all use your comic relief in a world full of chaos and stress. Thank you for that laugh lefty58, you silly boy, you.