The Milwaukee Brewers were linked to several players last summer around the trade deadline. Rumors about the Crew being interested in star Pete Alonso may have just been the club doing its due diligence and inquiring about his cost, but there may also have been real interest in some of these other talks.
One player that they were linked to last July was Chicago White Sox designated hitter Eloy Jimenez, via MLB insider Bruce Levine. With the season over and the White Sox willing to make deals, should the Brewers re-initiate those trade discussions?
Jimenez, 27 on November 27, is a right-handed designated hitter who is entering the prime of his career. He has a $13M salary for the 2024 season followed by a pair of club options for 2025 and 2026. His 2025 salary will be $16.5M and 2026 $18.5M.
Over five seasons with the White Sox, Jimenez is slashing .272/.317/.441. When healthy he has 30 home run potential and he can be a big run producer. He does not draw a lot of walks, but his high batting average and slugging percentage make him dangerous.
This offseason Chicago has already swung one major trade as it received five players in return for reliever Aaron Bummer. If Milwaukee was to give new White Sox GM Chris Getz a phone call it presumably would find the cost to acquire Eloy Jimenez quite high.
Between a high cost of prospect/player capital and the injury history associated with Jimenez (55 games played in 2021 and 84 in 2022) the Brewers may be better suited staying out of these trade discussions. Jimenez would give them a significant boost at the designated hitter position, but they should look elsewhere.
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