Arden Zwelling doesn't see a path back for Eloy Jiménez. The former Blue Jays slugger has gone unsigned since Toronto released him in August.

"That's gotta be it for his career," Zwelling said on Sportsnet's At The Letters podcast. Ben Nicholson-Smith agreed: "I think that it is trending in that direction."

It's a blunt take, but the evidence backs it up. No team picked him up after the release, and he struggled to find work a year ago, too.

Toronto took a flier on him in late August 2025 with a minor-league deal. He didn't reach the majors that year, elected free agency, then re-signed with the club over the winter.

He got into 12 big-league games in 2026, hitting .290 with three RBIs. After his first DFA, he elected free agency again and re-signed at the end of May.

He never made it back to Toronto. The club released him in August.

Eloy Jiménez nearly retired before the Blue Jays called

That near-retirement is the saddest part. Before signing with Toronto, he told Sportsnet he was "really, really close to retiring."

"I was in a battle with my head because of the injuries," Jiménez said. "You know that you can do it, but your body is not responding to what you know you can do."

The peak was real. He won a Silver Slugger with the White Sox in 2020 and was one of the best hitters in baseball that season.

Over seven seasons with the White Sox, Orioles and Blue Jays, he's hit .269 with 95 home runs.

Was the Toronto gamble a mistake? No, it was cheap, low-risk and exactly the kind of bet a club should make on a former Silver Slugger.

Zwelling's read is fair, and the Jays were right to try. Not every flier lands, and that's the whole point of taking them.

Injuries do to a hitter what rust does to a hinge. The door still swings in your memory, but in real life it sticks every time you push.

He hasn't announced anything. Until he does, the question is whether any club believes the body can catch up to what the bat still knows.