The White Sox formally announced Eloy Jimenez's six-to-eight-year extension this afternoon, with Rick Hahn scheduled to answer questions about it Saturday morning at Camelback Ranch.
Jimenez receives a $5 million signing bonus, which is one way the White Sox can make use of spending next to nothing on their 2019 payroll. The structure:
- 2019: $1 million
- 2020: $1.5 million
- 2021: $3.5 million
- 2022: $6.5 million
- 2023: $9.5 million
- 2024: $13 million
- 2025: $16.5 million (club option)
- 2026: $18.5 million (club option)
Both option years have a $3 million buyout.
The upfront $5 million puts Jimenez ahead of the game through the first four years of the deal. It's only until 2023 when the savings could really show up for the White Sox, especially since Jimenez would've been eligible for four years of arbitration instead of three. Of course, this all assumes that the arbitration process resembles the present one when 2023 rolls around. For the sake of fans and future prospects, one hopes these service time arguments will come to an abrupt end.
It's a little unfortunate that Jimenez had to put a cap on his future earnings in order to make it to that majors on a timeline closer to the one his talent dictates, but he did make the White Sox assume some risk along the way.
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After spending the last several years wearing the tag of baseball's biggest bargain with the team-friendliest contract, Chris Sale is finally going to get paid.
Like just about everybody else in this day and age, he needed to sign a spring extension to do it, but the Red Sox are on the verge of locking him up for $145 million over five years.
Sale was a healthy scratch for his start today, most likely because he was undergoing said physical. Assuming it goes through, the 2019-20 free agent class thins out further, and it'll also just about settle the Hall of Fame cap debate.
