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December 16, 2005
Transaction
Texas signed infielder D’ANGELO JIMENEZ to a minor-league contract.
Interesting. Cincinnati stunningly jettisoned Jimenez last May after 35 dreadful games (.229/.319/.295) although he was only 27 and also had an arbitration-induced salary of $2.8 million. Jimenez proceeded to hit .278/.401/.422 for AA (yes, AA) Chattanooga.
Jimenez is three years younger than Mark DeRosa and has a superior OBP+ (105 vs. 95) and SLG+ (90 vs. 88). They rate similarly with the glove. What Jimenez currently lacks is a 40-man roster spot and a guaranteed contract, but that situation ought to change between now and April. At this point, I think Ian Kinsler will have to destroy Spring Training pitchers to make the squad because Texas probably won’t have room for him, Kinsler and Jimenez. Texas could do worse than to have Jimenez manning second base for a while, assuming his 2005 was an anomaly, and let Kinsler get some seasoning in Oklahoma. In 2004, Jimenez had a better WARP (Wins Above Replacement Player) than Alfonso Soriano. No kidding.
Posted by Lucas at December 16, 2005 10:57 PM