We heard On Monday, former Chicago White Sox and Baltimore Orioles OF/DH Eloy Jimenez signed a minor league deal with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Well, we now know that the deal has a real financial benefit for Jimenez, who is now 28 years old.

By Hector Gomez of Z101 Digital:

If Eloy Jimenez makes the team, he will receive $2 million guaranteed, plus a $2 million bonus if he reaches 500 at-bats.

It’s obviously not a guarantee that Jimenez makes the team, but there’s certainly reason to be motivated on his part.

Jimenez made his major league debut with the White Sox in 2019 and immediately made an impact, hitting 31 home runs and driving in 79. The White Sox signed him to an early contract extension before he even played a game with the club of the big league, which was considered a genius move once he established himself. He also hit 14 homers during the COVID-shortened 2020 season. Chicago made it to the playoffs. But then injuries set in and he only played 55 games in 2021, 84 games in 2022, 120 games in 2023 and he played 98 this year.

Lifetime, he is a .269 hitter with 95 home runs. He never came close to replicating that rookie season. The White Sox traded him to the Orioles at the trade deadline last season and Baltimore ended up moving him to Triple-A before the end of the season. He did not make the O’s playoff roster.

The O’s declined their team option on him, sending him into free agency for the first time.

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