After Dylan Cease trade, the Blue Jays should call the White Sox on slugging outfielder

On Wednesday night, the Chicago White Sox announced that they traded starting pitcher Dylan Cease to the San Diego Padres. In exchange, they received a package of four prospects. They notably acquired Drew Thorpe, Samuel Zavala, and Jairo Iriarte who ranked 5th, 7th, and 8th on MLB Pipeline's Top 30 Padres prospects list, respectively.

This trade leads us to wonder if other White Sox veterans could be available on the trade market. If so, the Blue Jays should absolutely give them a call about outfielder Eloy Jimenez.

Over his first five seasons in the big leagues, Jimenez has a track record for hitting the ball extremely hard. In fact, last season he ranked in the 81st percentile in HardHit% among qualified hitters, at 46.8%. He hit the ball at an average speed of 90.9 mph, placing him in the 75th percentile for average exit velocity.

Since making his MLB debut in 2019, Jimenez has hit a home run in every 19.97 plate appearances. Among players who have made at least 1,700 plate appearances in that time, he ranks 27th in that category. While Jimenez is mainly known for his power-first approach at the plate, he can also turn it down a notch and focus on making contact with the ball more. Since 2019, he ranks 4th in hits, and 4th in batting average among White Sox hitters with 1,000 or more plate appearances.

Most of Jimenez's power comes against right-handed pitchers. His OPS is 62 points higher against RHP than it is against LHP. He also hits a home run every 17.84 at-bats against lefties, compared to one every 20.68 at-bats against righties.

While Jimenez's hitting prowess is evident, he still has major weaknesses in his running and fielding techniques. Last year, he ranked in the 31st percentile in sprint speed, and the 38th percentile in base running run value, two very important stats when looking at a runner's efficiency on the bases.

Jimenez is also not a great defender. Following his debut season where he appeared 114 times in the outfield, he became the primary White Sox designated hitter and has only played 135 games in the field since.

Yes, the Blue Jays already have an overload of possible options at DH going into 2024, but Jimenez is definitely worth a long, hard look. In 1,957 innings played in the field since 2019, Jimenez has a dismal -15 Defensive Runs Saved, -18 Outs Above Average, and a fielding percentage of .987.

If healthy, Jimenez could be a perfect fit for the Blue Jays as a designated hitter and occasional outfielder. At only 27-years old, he could even be a solution for the team past this season.