Eloy Jimenez will begin playing Winter Ball in the Dominican Republic this weekend, a surprise development for a player of his pedigree with a relatively successful rookie season under his belt.
To Jimenez’ credit, though, he knows he’s far from a polished left fielder — in fact, he wasn’t very good in the field while slugging 31 homers, posting a .267/.315/.513 hitting line and finishing strong for the White Sox in September in 2019. And so he will grab his glove and get to work trying to make himself serviceable in the field.
“I would rather he just have a little break, get himself ready for the next season,” Sox manager Rick Renteria said Tuesday. “But this kid’s not going to stop until he reaches what he wants to be.”
Renteria, in town with his wife Ilene to serve Thanksgiving dinners at Mercy Home for Boys and Girls in the West Loop Tuesday evening, is among those who believes Jimenez can turn into a capable left fielder.
“This young man is going to be a really, really outstanding major league baseball player on both sides of the baseball,” Renteria said. “It’s just continuing to stay sharp, get experience and play. You don’t usually have a lot of guys play winter ball. But he’s a guy just loves playing.”
Entering a season in which they could contend should they bolster their roster with two or three significant free agents or additions via trade – an important step was taken when they signed catcher Yasmani Grandal to a club record four-year, $73 million deal last week – the Sox will likely have to improve defensively to be the kind of team that plays meaningful games in September 2020. In 2019, they ranked 25th among 30 major league teams in defensive runs saved per FanGraphs, and only four teams committed more errors. What’s more, their Gold Glove second baseman, Yolmer Sanchez, was placed on waivers Monday, his expected $6.2 million salary via arbitration deemed to pricey for an infielder who hit two homers.
“He’s going to help somebody,” Renteria said. “Maybe it’s us still.”
If Sanchez isn’t claimed, it’s possible he comes back on a smaller deal, Renteria suggested, but Sanchez probably wants to be a starter.
“This kid is an outstanding personality and a player who knows how to play the game,” Renteria said. “He can do little things to help you win.”
Renteria, who has managed the Sox through three losing seasons in their rebuild, hopes the Sox front office does bigger things to help the Sox win in addition to Grandal. Renteria said it’s time to think “postseason.”
“The organization has pivoted,” Renteria said. “We are at a turning point and a very important phase of who we are as an organization. It’s time. It’s time to start being on the winning end more than the losing.
“Now you’re starting to go out and get some guys who have been around and have talent. I can’t speak for [general manager] Rick [Hahn] and everybody, but they’re working very, very hard to put things together for us. And it’s time. It’s time for us to start showing the promise that we’ve talked about. I think we started seeing little bits and pieces of it last year.”
