The A’s have agreed to a minor league contract with right-hander Dany Jiménez, reports Martín Gallegos of MLB.com (Twitter link). It’s unclear whether he’ll receive an invitation to big league Spring Training.
Jiménez was a part of the Oakland organization last offseason as well. The A’s selected him out of the Blue Jays’ system in the Rule 5 draft. He didn’t stick on the roster, though, as Oakland returned him to the Jays in mid-March. Jiménez spent the entire 2021 season with Toronto’s Triple-A affiliate, tossing 44 2/3 innings of 2.22 ERA ball there but never getting a major league look despite the Jays’ persistent bullpen troubles.
The 27-year-old punched out an incredible 39% of batters faced in the minors, the highest strikeout percentage among the 207 Triple-A East pitchers with 40+ frames. But Jiménez also struggled to throw strikes, issuing free passes at a huge 13.4% clip. Those control issues no doubt played into the Jays’ decision to keep him in the minors all season.
At the conclusion of the season, Jiménez elected minor league free agency. That set the stage for him to land back with the A’s, where he’ll try to get back to the big league level for the first time in two years. His major league experience to date consists of two relief appearances with the 2020 Giants, who’d selected him in the Rule 5 draft over the 2019-20 offseason but also returned him to Toronto rather than keep him in the majors all year.
The potential is there with this kid. Great strikeout numbers in the minors. Just needs to translate that. I know that is easier said than done.
Lol
Oakland uses magic to fix or tweak pitchers. Keep an eye on this guy.
somebody give him a shot
like him as an option for Philly
Looks like everybody wants to see more people in the Philly bullpen than attend a game at Lone Depot park…..
Everybody counts out Oakland. Sure, they haven’t won in the postseason, but sleep on Billy Beane bringing this talented team back.
they just let their manager go for nothing…
Winning in the postseason is a crapshoot. Rarely does the best team win it all. Getting to the playoffs is all you should demand as a fan and let the coin flips begin.
He’ll be the A’s closer Within 2 years