Brewers Trade Target: Eloy Jiménez

[Matthew Trueblood]

No single addition could impact the 2024 Brewers more, at this moment, than a reliably excellent right-handed bat. One player who already does his slugging nearby could fit the bill, but there are some caveats to consider.

Image courtesy of © Matt Blewett-USA TODAY Sports

Even back in July, there were some reports that the Chicago White Sox would listen to trade offers on Eloy Jimenez, and that the Brewers were one team who had checked in on him. It doesn't sound like those talks went far during the summer, but the Sox are now under new management and headed for a rebuild. It's time to revisit and fully consider Jiménez as a trade target.

Jiménez, who just turned 27 at the end of last month, helped blaze the trail the Brewers and Jackson Chourio just navigated. He's under team control for up to three more seasons, on the terms of a team-friendly deal he and the White Sox signed before his big-league debut. He'll make $13 million in 2024, and then has two club options with a total value of $35 million. In 2023, he hit .272/.317/.441, with 18 home runs in 489 plate appearances. It was a step back in terms of per-opportunity production from his stellar 2022, but that seemingly paltry number of times at bat was also the most he's accrued in any season since he was a rookie in 2019.

It's the combination of mild offensive inconsistency and severely lacking durability that makes Jiménez theoretically available in trade. That cocktail should also keep his cost down enough to keep anyone's eyes from popping out of their head at what the White Sox request. Still, Jiménez is a very good hitter, and when he's kept out of the outfield, he stands a better chance of staying healthy. He's a DH, really, and Chicago's stubbornness in admitting that contributed to some unnecessary lost time over the last few years.

Happily, the Brewers really don't have anyone even penciled in for the DH spot right now. Since Christian Yelich has been ruled out as a candidate to take over the also-vacant first base role, he figures to get some of his playing time at DH, in addition to playing the bulk of the time in left field. William Contreras is a catcher who hits so well that the team should try to keep him in the lineup even on some of his off days from actually catching, so he, too, needs some DH at-bats. None of that is a problem, though. For instance, Yelich sliding to DH to allow both Garrett Mitchell and Sal Frelick to play the outfield on a given day could be one way to both combat a tough right-handed pitcher and keep Jiménez fresh.

More than positional fit, the question with Jiménez is whether the Brewers would think they could help him get back to the highest levels of performance he's achieved, or at least better approximate them than he did in 2023. For such a hulking slugger, Jiménez hits the ball on the ground far too often, but he can crush the ball. He also makes contact at a good rate, for a power hitter. In fact, he substantially cut his strikeout rate in 2023, although he did it by getting more aggressive early in counts and at some cost in terms of walks and power.

Last month at Baseball Prospectus, Robert Orr introduced a very cool and valuable way to evaluate the prime directive of any hitter: selective aggression at the plate. Jiménez was one of the better players at enacting the hitter's mandate in 2023, by that measurement system. As it happens, the Brewers are also one of the teams who excelled in the statistic, overall. Jiménez's skill set and approach are strikingly similar to Contreras's. 

Obviously, whether or not Jiménez is a desirable trade target depends on a couple of things:

1. How much Mark Attanasio and Matt Arnold envision spending on payroll over the next three years; and
2. What, exactly, the White Sox want in return for him.

Jiménez is the kind of player with obvious, incontrovertible (though far from unlimited) absolute value. His contextualized value depends on whether the team would be slotting him in as 7 or 10 percent of their payroll, though. If the Brewers can't much exceed $125 million, Jiménez might not be a smart pickup. If they can comfortably go to and past $150 million, there should still be enough to address other needs after bringing in the expensive bat.

The trade cost seems like an even more important variable. Obviously, the Brewers would love to center a deal around one of their ostensibly expendable young outfielders: Joey Wiemer, Mitchell, or Frelick. If the White Sox are amenable to that, landing Jiménez makes sense. If they insist upon getting one of those players and a polished pitching prospect like Carlos F. Rodriguez or Robert Gasser, the appeal fades. The interesting midpoint might be a deal that only includes Tyler Black.

If the Brewers internally believe (as many scouts outside the org do) that Black will end up needing to move to the outfield, then effectively, he's part of the team's looming outfield logjam. We just don't quite see that clearly yet. In that case, trading Black for up to three years of a middle-of-the-order bat is a fascinating proposal. 

What do you think of Jiménez as a trade target? Are his injury concerns enough to scare you off, or the wart that makes him obtainable at a good price for a Brewers team in need of a big bat? Join the conversation in the comments.

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[sveumrules]

Pass on Eloy. Too much money plus too many injuries equals too much inconsistency to tie up DH for three years.

Plus give up valuable prospect capital to acquire him? No thanks.

Just sign one of Hoskins, Garver, Belt, Turner or Santana for less money and no subtraction from the farm.

If they’re gonna invest big in DH I’d rather go after JDM (126 wRC+ and 5.9 WAR over 1,709 PAs from 2021-23) than Eloy (116 wRC+ and 2.4 WAR over 1,047 PAs from 2021-23).

[Fear The Chorizo]

I like Jimenez, used to love him but injuries derailed the start of his career and his inability to stay healthy remains his biggest concern....because of that I'd rather first try to sign Soler to a free agent deal to be the team's DH so prospects can stay with the Brewers.  That being said, if the White Sox are willing to bite on the upside of Wiemer + a lotto ticket prospect or two I'd be ok trading for Jimenez, but I'd imagine the asking price is higher than that.

With regards to Black and his eventual defensive position, I think the Brewers should let that play out on its own and start with him sticking at 3rd until he proves any defensive shortcomings at that position outweigh his bat.  If his offensive game plays at the MLB level, DH is always an option for him longterm, too.

Even with the glut of OFs currently on the 40 man roster and the assumption that Yelich and Contreras could once again take roughly 1/3 of the DH at bats for the team in 2024 if the Brewers are ok with them playing almost everyday (and are ok with one or both of those guys wearing down as the season winds down once again), I think targeting the DH position specifically via free agency or trade to bring in a good RH bat to anchor the lineup should be a priority.

[rolafaive]

Really trade a young and promising 3rd/1st baseman for a D.H?

[Brock Beauchamp]

3 minutes ago, rolafaive said:

Really trade a young and promising 3rd/1st baseman for a D.H?

Welcome to the site!

It's tricky trading for a DH. It's hard to recoup overall value when defense is taken out of the equation entirely.

But on a team like the Brewers (a team that badly needs offense), actually improving the team while being a net negative on paper is a possibility.

[Fear The Chorizo]

11 minutes ago, rolafaive said:

Really trade a young and promising 3rd/1st baseman for a D.H?

Yeah, Black is going nowhere - but I do think one of the young OF's who won't be the everyday CF in Milwaukee with Chourio extended would be a good centerpiece in a trade like this...Wiemer or Mitchell

[Trax]

I would not trade for a DH, Yelich can cover that full time with the outfield depth we have.  I'd rather Yelich move to 1st if he can play there and we rotate the DH, but in no way would I give up valuable young assets for one.

[BlazingGunz]

If they want to eat some money and take a lesser prospect like Carlos Rodriguez (OF) or Freddy Zamora - ok, I could get behind that.  Otherwise hard pass - too expensive, too injured to have much value.

[Playing Catch]

I came to the site, saw the picture, glanced at the headline and my heart sunk.

I thought the headline was, "Brewers trade for Eloy Jimenez."

I guess that's how I feel about it. Also MT's suggested return made me blanch. I just have zero faith in Eloy.

[Sixtolezcano]

23 hours ago, Trax said:

I would not trade for a DH, Yelich can cover that full time with the outfield depth we have.  I'd rather Yelich move to 1st if he can play there and we rotate the DH, but in no way would I give up valuable young assets for one.

Arnold recently said that he has no plans playing Yelich at 1st base. So I guess that’s out.

[Fear The Chorizo]

29 minutes ago, Sixtolezcano said:

Arnold recently said that he has no plans playing Yelich at 1st base. So I guess that’s out.

I think his back would be a disaster at at 1B.  Moving Yeli to full-time DH is a solid option if they have plans to hoard all their young OFs...but my gut tells me Yelich is still out in LF for 2024.

[Jim French Stepstool]

12 hours ago, Sixtolezcano said:

Arnold recently said that he has no plans playing Yelich at 1st base. So I guess that’s out.

Was just going to mention that. As Trax said, I'm not very big on trading young talent for a DH, but I never bought into the idea of Yelich moving to 1B. At some point some of the young OF talent will get dealt, but for pitching, please.

[Devinep]

The need for a big bat (or 2) is there, but that would be better served coming from an infielder, not a DH/bad OF

[wiguy94]

Don’t think Eloy makes sense as a target with all the DH type bats that are in FA. Brewers could get a similar or better hitter in FA without giving up a prospect and without spending much more money.