The Toronto Blue Jays are trading 24-year-old Leo Jiménez to the Miami Marlins, per SportsNet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith, just a few days after designating the young infielder for assignment.
“The Blue Jays and Marlins have agreed to a trade that will send recently designated infielder Leo Jimenez to Miami, industry sources told Sportsnet,” Nicholson-Smith wrote Sunday. “Jimenez was in contention to make the Blue Jays’ opening-day roster until last week, but was designated for assignment when Davis Schneider earned the 13th and final position-player spot on the roster.
“While the Blue Jays liked what Jimenez had to offer enough to consider him seriously this spring, they also were impressed with the work of minor-league shortstop Josh Kasevich, who could be added to the 40-man roster if needed later in the season.”
Jiménez appeared in 81 games for the Blue Jays across the past two seasons, slashing .207/.303/.332 with five home runs and 20 RBIs, but couldn’t get anything going at the plate last season.
With no minor-league options left, Jiménez had to be placed on waivers before being sent down to the minor leagues after being designated for assignment. Clearly, the Marlins liked what they saw from the young infielder. Francys Romero reported that the Blue Jays will receive infielder Dub Gleed and $250K in international bonus pool money in exchange for Jiménez.
Jiménez had been on the roster bubble for Toronto this offseason, but after failing to make the roster, being traded to Miami offers him a fresh opportunity to get his career back on track.
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