The Chicago White Sox are aggressively moving to lock down one of the brightest young talents in their organization for quite some time.
According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, it will be a long-term deal for the 22-year-old outfielder. Dominican journalist Hector Gomez reported that it would be an eight-year deal worth between $65 and $70 million.
Top outfield prospect Eloy Jimenez and the Chicago White Sox are finalizing a long-term deal, league sources tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 20, 2019
BREAKING NEWS: The White Sox are close to an agreement with Eloy Jimenez for an 8-year extension that would pay him between 65-70 US$ Million. With Incentives the contract could get to the 75-80 million Range. Source says deal is pending only a Physical.@z101digital @ZDeportes
— Héctor Gómez (@hgomez27) March 20, 2019
Jimenez is a consensus top-five prospect. He hit .337 with 22 home runs between AA and AAA last season. He has yet to actually make his MLB debut, which is, in the minds of most, down to service time manipulation. If Jimenez has already penned a long-term deal, that will no longer be an issue, and it seems safe to assume that he’ll be on the Opening Day roster.
