![\"Toronto](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-2231721740-e1768178895750.jpg\")
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Blue Jays sign Silver Slugger shortstop<\/p>\n
The Toronto Blue Jays<\/a> made an intriguing signing on Sunday.<\/p>\n Toronto signed Silver Slugger Award winner Eloy Jimenez to a minor-league deal. MLB<\/a> insider Mike Rodriguez first reported the news on X on Sunday.<\/p>\n \u201cAccording to my sources, Eloy Jim\u00e9nez has just reached an agreement with the Toronto Blue Jays. The deal is a minor league contract with an invitation to Major League spring training,\u201d Rodriguez wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n Jimenez spent the last month of the season in the Blue Jays organization after signing a minor-league deal with the team at the end of August. He finished the year playing in six games with the Blue Jays Triple-A team, hitting .167.<\/p>\n Jimenez is a former top prospect in all of baseball, as he signed with the Chicago Cubs<\/a>\u00a0in July 2013 for a $2.8\u00a0million\u00a0signing bonus as an international free agent. After being traded to the Chicago White Sox<\/a> in 2017, he made his MLB debut in 2019.<\/p>\n Before even making his MLB debut, Jimenez inked a six-year, $43 million contract with White Sox. The deal included two additional option years for the team, which could bring the total value to $75 million, the richest contract ever for a player before his MLB debut.<\/p>\n Despite the risk, Jimenez looked like a safe bet as he hit .267 with 31 home runs and 79 RBIs<\/a> in his rookie season. He won the Silver Slugger Award in the shortened 2020 season as he hit .296 with 14 home runs and 41 RBIs in 55 games.<\/p>\n However, Jimenez failed to replicate that success and last played in the MLB in the 2024 season.<\/p>\n How Does Jimenez Fit in With The Blue Jays?<\/p>\n Jimenez will have to earn a roster spot on the 26-man roster, but he\u2019s an intriguing addition.<\/p>\n The former top prospect is an outfielder and designated hitter, so the path to playing time is likely blocked. Anthony Santander already fills that role, along with George Springer.<\/p>\n So, if Jimenez is going to earn a roster spot, he would need to beat out someone like Nathan Lukes, Davis Schneider, or Myles Straw.<\/p>\n For Jimenez to do that, the former top prospect will need to have a stellar spring training and show he\u2019s back to his 2020 form. If he does, he would be a solid bench bat that is a low-risk, potential high-reward signing for the Blue Jays.<\/p>\n Toronto Unlikely to Sign Bichette<\/p>\n The Blue Jays\u2019 signing of Jimenez comes with the team unlikely to bring back Bo Bichette.<\/p>\n Bichette remains a free agent<\/a>, and the star shortstop is unlikely to return to Toronto. According to Mitch Bannon of The Athletic.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Toronto Blue Jays remain linked to All-Star hitters Bo Bichette and Kyle Tucker,\u201d\u00a0Bannon\u00a0wrote<\/a>. \u201cAlthough league sources said the Jays have increased their efforts to recruit Tucker, who remains a roster fit after the signing of Japanese slugger Kazuma Okamoto, a reunion with Bichette appears increasingly unlikely.\u201d<\/p>\n The Blue Jays appear to be focused on Kyle Tucker more than Bichette. So, it\u2019s likely the star hitter will be playing elsewhere in 2026.<\/p>\n Bichette has led the AL in hits twice.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tCole Shelton<\/a> Cole Shelton covers the NHL, MLB and Cleveland Browns for Heavy.com. He has covered pro and college sports since 2016, including bylines at BJ Penn, USA Today, SB Nation, Rotowire, Canadian Baseball Network and more. More about Cole Shelton<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Blue Jays\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Blue Jays sign Silver Slugger shortstop The Toronto Blue Jays made an intriguing signing on Sunday. Toronto…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":402589,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-402588","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-mlb","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402588\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/402589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}