Orioles acquire Eloy Jimenez from White Sox

ByESPN
July 30, 2024, 7:19 PM

The Orioles acquired outfielder Eloy Jimenez from the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday for minor league left-hander Trey McGough.

The 27-year-old Jimenez is hitting .240 with just five home runs and 16 RBIs this season. He's been limited to 65 games in 2024 because of adductor and hamstring issues after reaching double figures in homers each of his first five seasons.

Jimenez went from the Chicago Cubs to the crosstown White Sox in the 2017 deal that sent Jose Quintana to the Cubs. In his debut season of 2019, Jimenez hit 31 home runs, but he's never played more than the 122 games he did that year and hasn't surpassed 18 homers since.

Before he'd even played a game in the majors, Chicago signed Jiménez to a $43 million, six-year deal. That contract includes a $16.5 million team option for 2025 with a $3 million buyout, and an $18.5 million team option for 2026, also with a $3 million buyout.

Baltimore received another outfielder Tuesday when Austin Slater was traded for the second time this month. Slater, who went from San Francisco to Cincinnati on July 7, was dealt to the Orioles along with minor league infielder Livan Soto and cash. The Reds receive cash or a player to be named.

In a separate deal Tuesday, Baltimore also acquired left-handed reliever Gregory Soto from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for right-handed pitching prospect Seth Johnson.

Soto, 29, has a 4.08 ERA and two saves across 35⅓ innings this season for the Phillies.

Johnson, 25, has spent the season in Double-AA and has a 2.63 ERA.