Baltimore Orioles Trade Acquisition Officially Jettisoned Despite Club Option

The Baltimore Orioles are paying Eloy Jimenez to go away rather than picking up his club option for 2025.

Aug 31, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Baltimore Orioles designated hitter Eloy Jimenez (72) during the first inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

The Baltimore Orioles are moving on from designated hitter Eloy Jiménez just months after acquiring him at last season's trade deadline.

The team announced they have officially declined their $16.5M club option for next season, paying Jiménez a $3M buyout and sending him to free agency.

Once considered a rising superstar in baseball, the 27-year-old Jiménez saw his production sapped by injuries that have limited him to just 534 games in six seasons. Signed to a pre-debut extension in 2019 for six years and $43M, Jiménez finished as the 4th-place finisher for AL Rookie of the Year after hitting .267 with 31 homers.

He never reached 2019's record of 122 games played again in his career, owing to repeated and numerous injuries. Going to the injured list six times since 2019, Jiménez has officially spent 255 days on the IL for a variety of injuries from the routine (strained hamstring, ten days) to the severe (ruptured pectoral, 116 days).

Moving from the outfield to primarily a designated hitter after 2021's pectoral tear, Jiménez saw his performance drop as a combination of the accumulated injuries and the inherent difficulties some players face when they don't play defense. He batted .290 as a left fielder across 233 games, but just .251 in 269 games without defensive responsibilities.

The Chicago White Sox, who acquired then-prospect Jiménez via trade from the Chicago Cubs along with now-departed ace Dylan Cease in 2017, finally cut ties with Jiménez this summer.

In a salary dump trade, Baltimore picked up Jiménez for only minor league lefthander Trey McGough, a 26-year-old college draftee who has worked as a reliever in the minors since 2021.

Despite the change in scenery, Jiménez wasn't able to recapture his pre-injury form.

He batted just .232 with one homer in 33 games for the Orioles, eventually being optioned to the minors in late September.

The Orioles had two club options available for Jiménez, with a $18.5M option for 2026 becoming a decision next winter if they picked up next season's $16.5M option. Instead, they're paying a $3M buyout to send him to free agency.

It's likely the end of the team's full-time DH experiment. Outside of the tenure of Jiménez, the Orioles preferred to rotate designated hitter at-bats around the roster, with only three players even reaching 100 plate appearances at DH this year.

Most of Baltimore's sluggers hit well in their defensive breaks, with star catcher Adley Rutschman batting .298 in 45 games at DH and first baseman Ryan O'Hearn batting .280 in 54 games.

It wasn't a universal production boost, however, as now free-agent Anthony Santander hit just .157 in 25 games at designated hitter, with just six of his team-leading 44 homers coming while not playing the field.