DUNEDIN, Fla. — John Schneider remembers encountering Eloy Jimenez when he was managing the single-A Lansing Lugnuts in 2016. First, in early May, when the 19-year-old came to town and tore through his pitching staff with six hits across a four-game series. Then, later that month, when Schneider’s team travelled to South Bend, where Jimenez went nuclear again with another six hits over another four games.
“He could hit. It was real. Real power, real ability to hit,” the Blue Jays manager remembers. “He was the guy. I think that was the year before Vladimir (Guerrero Jr.) became the guy.”
Imagine Schneider’s luck now, a decade later, helming a spring-training clubhouse with Guerrero on one side and Jimenez on the other. MLB’s No. 3 and 4 prospects, respectively, on the pre-2018 rankings published by both Baseball America and MLB.com both now play under Schneider’s watch.
Mind you, their paths varied. Guerrero’s the reigning ALCS MVP on a $500-million deal. Jimenez didn’t play an MLB game in 2025 and is signed to a minor-league pact that could pay him $1.5 million if he makes the team.
While Guerrero was rampaging his way through a historic post-season, Jimenez was about to walk away from the sport entirely.
“You know, life is always a challenge that you need to face every time. And for me, there have been a lot of challenges. A lot of lessons. A lot to learn from,” Jimenez says. “It’s hard. Nobody wants to get hurt. Everybody wants to play a big part and produce for the team. But I’m just thanking God for giving me the opportunity to go through this process and learn from it. And now I’m just here to do my best.”
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Jimenez’s toilsome story is well told. A can’t-miss prospect who OPS’ed .961 across double- and triple-A as a 21-year-old in 2018, Jimenez signed a six-year, $43-million deal with the Chicago White Sox before he’d even played in a big-league game — the largest ever at the time for a player prior to his debut. He made it look brilliant during his first MLB season in 2019, slugging .513 with 31 homers.
He followed that with a 138 wRC+ during pandemic-shortened 2020, flirting with a .300 batting average while winning a Silver Slugger. But he ruptured his left pectoral tendon during a spring training game the following year, ticking over the first in a long line of calamitous injury dominoes that marred the ensuing four seasons.
Among the issues: repeated strained hamstrings, an appendectomy, an adductor strain, an ulnar nerve issue and a high ankle sprain. Jimenez remained productive when on the field, posting a 116 wRC+ from 2021 through 2023, and his underlying indicators — bat speed, contact quality, strikeout rate — never wavered. But he was seldom healthy for long enough to fully realize that potential.
The White Sox ultimately cut bait at the trade deadline in 2024 — the final year of that pre-debut deal — shipping Jimenez and cash to the Orioles for an over-age relief prospect. Months later, he was a free agent.
That’s when Jimenez began giving serious consideration to a thought that rattled around in his brain throughout 2024 — retirement. He’d been a top prospect, he’d made money, he’d demonstrated what he could do at the highest level. He’d been through so many rehabs, so many setbacks. Maybe his body was telling him he’d gone as far as he could.
“I was in a battle with my head because of the injuries. It was like, I need to be healthy first, then try to prove myself. But it was really hard. You know that you can do it, but your body is not responding to what you know you can do,” Jimenez says. “I was really, really close to retiring.”
Jimenez continued discussing the idea with his wife, Ashley, and close friends throughout 2025 — particularly when he missed a month due to Achilles tendinitis — as he bounced between minor-league deals with Tampa and the Blue Jays, who signed him in late August to get a closer look at his swing and physical markers. After a half-dozen triple-A games with the Buffalo Bisons down the stretch, Jimenez became a free agent again and figured it was the end of the line.
But following a heart-to-heart with longtime mentor Amaurys Nina, the Dominican trainer who first recruited Jimenez to his El Toro academy as a teenager, a decision was made. The 29-year-old was too young and too talented to walk away. He joined LIDOM’s Toros del Este early in the Dominican winter league season to give it one last shot, open to whatever outcome was in store.
Less than three months later, he was named LIDOM’s round-robin MVP — the equivalent of the championship series MVP Guerrero won last fall — after setting a league record with 10 doubles in the 18-game phase. His body held up. His bat produced. He played first base regularly.
“That’s when I said, ‘Oh, this is me now. I got back to the old me,’” Jimenez says. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had that sensation and confidence.”
It’s what gave Jimenez the self-belief to sign another minor-league deal with the Blue Jays, choosing the club over other offers because it had demonstrated faith in him amidst a miserable 2025. Meanwhile, he showed off his rediscovered vigour quickly, doubling and homering in his first game of spring last weekend against the Red Sox. The double, a 105-m.p.h. liner to left-centre off Brayan Bello, would have been a homer at 23 of 30 MLB ballparks.
“The swing looks very reminiscent to a handful of years ago with Chicago,” Schneider says. “I just think he’s really healthy for the first time in a lot of years and he’s in tremendous physical shape.”
Jimenez echoes those comments, saying he can’t remember the last time he felt as physically sound as he currently does. What’s the biggest difference — his ankles, his hamstrings, his shoulders?
“Everything,” he says. “Yeah, just everything.”
That’s good because Jimenez is going to get plenty of run in the coming weeks as the Blue Jays seek to learn more about what they have. He’s already scheduled for a pair of outfield appearances in the coming days and he’ll get plenty of first-base reps after Guerrero departs for the World Baseball Classic.
Jimenez’s ability to play the field is meaningful as the majority of Toronto’s DH playing time is presently spoken for by George Springer. Guerrero and Kazuma Okamoto will need the occasional bat-only day, as well. And Toronto’s hope is that Anthony Santander will become a factor late in the season following shoulder surgery.
Naturally, Jimenez’s best position is in the batter’s box. His 113.2-m.p.h. max exit velocity was a 93rd percentile mark at triple-A last season. His hard-hit (80th percentile) and strikeout (75th percentile) rates were both well above average, too. But as Toronto’s roster is presently constructed, it’s much simpler to work his big bat into the fold if he can also play passably in the field.
With an entire month between now and when the Blue Jays must submit an opening-day roster, there’s little sense speculating how Jimenez could fit. But Jimenez says he’d be willing to begin the season at triple-A awaiting an opportunity if that’s how the roster machinations play out.
“If that’s the decision, it’s OK,” he says. “I don’t want to focus too much on the future. I just want to live day-by-day, try to do my best. Whatever they decide, I’m going to keep doing it. If they decide that I need to go to another team, that’s OK. If not, I’ll stay here.”
Granted, if you’d asked him a few months ago, Jimenez would’ve told you he wouldn’t be on a baseball team at all this spring. He was preparing to retire. What’s one more unexpected twist in a career full of them?
“Thank God I didn’t do it,” he says. “I just want to be healthy — because I know when I’m healthy, I can do damage. And I feel good. I feel like I’m in my healthiest year. And I’m just ready to play and prove that I can still do it.”
