The Baltimore Orioles were aggressive ahead of the trade deadline.
Baltimore boasts arguably the best young core in all of baseball. The Orioles were among the World Series favorites this season and ended up finishing the season with 91 wins. While this is the case, things didn’t work out for Baltimore.
The Orioles were knocked out of the postseason and now need to regroup this offseason. Baltimore was very active ahead of the deadline and tried to add to the organization, thanks to the high number of injuries the team dealt with. One move that the team made was bringing in slugger Eloy Jiménez in a trade with the Chicago White Sox.
Adding Jiménez was a way to hopefully add some more power to the lineup, but things didn’t necessarily work out. He appeared in 33 games and had one home run and seven RBIs. Now, the Orioles need to decide whether or not to pick up a $16.5 million option with him for the 2025 season. Spotrac’s Michael Ginnitti predicted that the Orioles won’t pick up the deal.
“Eloy Jimenez (DH, Orioles),” Ginnitti said. “Option: $16.5M ($3M buyout). Jimenez completed his 6-year extension this season, spending the final 33 games with Baltimore to close it out. He’s (two) years removed from his most formidable season (23 doubles, 18 homers, .295 average, 1.79 WAR) but has no real stretch of consistently good play on his resume. The Orioles & White Sox will split his $3M buyout this winter. Prediction: Declined.”
He signed a six-year, $43 million deal with the White Sox, but the 2024 season was somewhat of a struggle. Baltimore will likely turn down the option sending him toward free agency.
