D’Angelo Jimenez was an infielder who played in the Major Leagues from 1999 to 2007 for several different teams. He began with the New York Yankees and moved on to the San Diego Padres when he was traded for reliever Jay Witasick in late June 2001. Witasick had a poor ERA, but strong peripherals for the Yankees.
Jimenez wasn’t great for the Padres, though he posted a strong OBP of .355 in 86 games for the Friars. So that trade worked out well for the Padres. Jimenez wasn’t too great in 2002 for the Padres, but he was traded to the White Sox for Alex Fernandez and Humberto Quintero. That trade didn’t work out at all for the Padres. It did for Chicago. The White Sox got a .791 OPS in 27 games from Jimenez. They also got plus solid infield defense. Jimenez was worth 1.4 WAR in those few games.
Jimenez received plenty of playing time and continued to be a decent hitting infielder through the first half of 2003 for the White Sox. But, he had some issues early on in the season with the glove. He was then traded to the Cincinnati Reds for Scott Dunn, who never did anything for the White Sox or anyone else. But, Jimenez continued to play well, and actually put up a .785 OPS in 73 games while still playing solid defense. He was a slightly above average starter in only 73 games, amassing 2.2 WAR between offense and defense. This was a nice surprise, after struggling with the glove with the White Sox.
2004 would be Jimenez’s big year, his career year. He played 152 games and put up 3.6 WAR with once again good defense and a decent .758 OPS. His 2004 earned him a nice raise to over $2.8 million in 2005. Unfortunately, things fell apart for him after that.
2005 was miserable for Jimenez. He only played 35 games and was let go in October. He hung on for a couple more years getting into games for the Texas Rangers, Oakland A’s, and Washington Nationals. He continued to play in the independent leagues and Mexican leagues. This earned him a couple more chances in major league organizations. 2013 would be his last professional season, which he spent with the independent Camden Riversharks and Newark Bears.
All in all, Jimenez was worth 8 WAR in his career with a couple of decent seasons under his belt. He’s had a few decent minor league seasons since then, but his skills seem to be deteriorating. His numbers in the Mexican league were pretty good in 2011, but his independent league numbers since haven’t been as great. His final professional appearance was for Licey of the Domincan Winter League, in which he went 2 for 4 in 4 games. It was a nice way to go out. D’Angelo has had himself a nice baseball career. While his career is now certainly over, he’s had a great run.
