GLENDALE, Ariz. — The White Sox are close to finalizing a a long-term contract with top prospect Eloy Jimenez, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
The deal will be for six years guaranteed at $43 million for the 22-year-old who has yet to play in the major leagues, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. It would include two club options that would maximize the deal to about $77 million, per Passan.
Of most significance for the immediate future, the deal would open the door for Jimenez to start in left field on Opening Day next Thursday in Kansas City. Jimenez is the No. 3 ranked prospect in baseball, per MLB Pipeline.
The team would not the confirm the report but an announcement should be expected before long.
“I don’t want to speculate, we’ll leave at that,” manager Rick Renteria said shortly after the news broke late Wednesday morning. “We’ll see how that plays out. You guys will find out before I do.”
After combining to hit .337 with 22 homers, 28 doubles and 75 RBI between Class AA Birmingham and AAA Charlotte last season, Jimenez struggled this spring, batting .154 with a home run and attributing it to his timing not being off. He was optioned to Class AAA Charlotte last week, and the expectation was he would be called up in late April after clearing service time issues.
That would no longer be an issue after the deal, which buys out Jimenez’ arbitration years and one year of free agency, is finalized.
“The kid has come out and done everything we wanted him to do in the spring,” Renteria said. “He’s working to get his timing back in the minor leagues. Again, from everything I’ve seen, he’s a polished kid. He has impressed everyone in the organization from the minor leagues to us. I don’t know if there is anything more I can say about him.”
The Sox have done well in years past to sign players before they hit free agency to club-friendly deals, including Chris Sale, Jose Quintana and Tim Anderson. This one, for a player with no service time, is much more rare and holds more risk, however. Phillies infielder Scott Kingery signed a six-year, $24 million contract last year that included three team options maxing out at $42 million and the Astros signed first baseman Jon Singleton to a five-year, $10 million contract in 2014.
Singleton played only 114 games in the majors. Kingery batted .226/.267/.338 over 147 games last season.
