White Sox analyst blasts Eloy Jimenez after trade in brutal rant calling former top prospect a bust

NBC Sports Chicago studio host Ryan McGuffey let his negative thoughts about White Sox outfielder Eloy Jimenez be known following the team's trade of the six-year pro and former top prospect this week. "This is a joyous day," he said on a network affiliated with the team.

"You guys know where I sit with Eloy," McGuffey said during the team's trade deadline show. "He’s as catastrophic of a failure as any player to go through the rebuild. I can’t believe any team would take him on."

The White Sox flipped Jimenez to the Baltimore Orioles for pitcher Trey McGough, who ranks outside the team's top 30 prospect rankings on MLB Pipeline . Why is the prospect return so light for a former top prospect with a career .790 OPS? One reason is the notoriously frugal White Sox were unwilling to eat any of Jimenez's remaining salary.

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The bigger reason for the light return? Jimenez's injury record in Chicago has been downright awful. In six seasons on the south side, Jimenez has topped 120 games just twice.

Here is an extensive list, per MLB.com : "Jimenez's run of maladies includes a sprained right ankle (2019), a right ulnar nerve contusion ('19), a torn left pectoral tendon suffered during Spring Training ('21), a torn right hamstring tendon from running down the first-base line on a ground out in Minnesota ('22) and even an appendectomy ('23)."

“Can we get a ‘Thank you, Orioles’ graphic made?” McGuffey continued. "Instead of a 'Thank you, Eloy' one?" The official White Sox social media team released a video on X titled "Thank you for the smiles, memories, and everything you did for Chicago, Eloy."

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A fan commented under the Sox's X post saying “Nobody spent time on the IL like you did." Jimenez's injury concerns are now Baltimore's problem.

The White Sox originally acquired Jimenez in a swap (alongside future All-Star Dylan Cease) with the crosstown Cubs for pitcher Jose Quintana before the 2017 MLB Trade Deadline.

Jimenez was a consensus top-five prospect heading into the 2018 season and promptly exploded for 31 home runs and 79 RBIs, numbers he has not come close to approaching since.

The White Sox own a putrid 27-83 record and are mired in a 16-game losing streak, the team's second losing streak of 14 or more games just this season.

The team chose not to cash in their two blue-chip stars, pitcher Garret Crochet and outfielder Luis Robert Jr., during Wednesday's MLB trade deadline .

McGuffey and the NBC Chicago Sports team will not cover White Sox games after this season. Next year, the team will jump to the newly-formed Chicago Sports Network.