Baltimore Orioles Recently Acquired Slugger Likely to Become Free Agent

The Baltimore Orioles recently traded for a slugger at the MLB deadline, but likely won't be picking up his option at the end of the year.

Aug 4, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Baltimore Orioles designated hitter Eloy Jimenez (72) celebrates after hitting a RBI single during the third inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. / David Dermer-USA TODAY Sports

The Baltimore Orioles traded for a slugger at the MLB deadline a couple of weeks ago, but are expected to send him to free agency at the end of the season.

As MLB.com's Mark Feinsand looked around at the league's big name players with options coming at the end of the season, Eloy Jiminez came up.

"Jimenez’s deal includes club options for 2025 and 2026 ($18.5 million, $3 million buyout), and while the [Chicago] White Sox sent $4 million to the Orioles to pay down almost all of his 2024 salary," said Feinsand. "It would be a surprise for Baltimore to exercise the option for 2025, though a reunion on a new deal is a possibility."

The 27-year-old has had an interesting career so far. He broke onto the scene back in 2019 with the White Sox, but struggled to consistently find the field.

Everyone's seasons got cut short for 2020, so that won't be held against him, but he has only reached 100 games played in two of his six seasons.

He got off to a very disappointing 2024 in Chicago. He had just a .240/.297/.345. It just didn't make sense for the worst team in baseball to keep him around rather than flipping him for some future assests.

His name had been floated around as a potential trade piece, but no one could get a good sense on what his trade value would actually look like.

Baltimore was a bit of a shock to be the team that landed him and the price tag was not too high at all.

It was a player-for-player trade that sent left-handed pitcher Trey McGough to the White Sox minor league system.

McGough has excelled at the Triple-A level since being traded with a 1.69 ERA over 10.2 innings across five outings.

It's not that he was a bad prospect that the Orioles were just waiting to trade away, but he was getting up there in age and made sense to sacrifice in hopes of picking up another bat for the playoff stretch.

Over his 16 games with Baltimore, Jimenez has a .313/.327/.396 slashing line with four doubles and six RBI. He's not an every day player, but has been exactly what the team had hoped for when trading for him.

Though he hasn't been a disappointment, it just wouldn't make much sense for the Orioles to commit to playing him $16.5 million next season.

A reunion at a better price range might be in the best interest for both parties.