White Sox place a $43 million bet that Eloy Jimenez is ready to become the face of the franchise

If you checked the White Sox’s Twitter page Wednesday afternoon for the big Eloy Jimenez news out of Arizona, you might have seen a photo of a plate of sweet potato fries smothered in Hershey’s syrup and Nutella.

No, that wasn’t it, although nothing gets fans as excited for opening day at Sox Park as the thought of food, unless of course it’s the thought of beer.

Scrolling up to the top of the @whitesox feed revealed a video of Michael Kopech hiking in the mountains and philosophizing about finding “true peace.” A nice reminder that Kopech is handling his elbow injury well, but not exactly as big as the Eloy rumor.

Fortunately, the White Sox game was televised on NBC Sports Chicago. Play-by-play broadcaster Jason Benetti teased the news before saying reporter Chuck Garfien would have the full story after the commercial break.

I couldn’t wait that long, so I took another look at the phone and searched for the Twitter account of trusted Athletic/MLB Network/Fox Sports reporter Ken Rosenthal, who along with ESPN’s Jeff Passan confirmed a report that Jimenez had agreed to a six-year, $43 million contract with two club options.

There was no immediate confirmation from the Sox, but multiple reports said Jimenez would make up to $77.5 million if the two option years are picked up.

It was the end to a long saga that began in August, when Jimenez’s agents loudly complained after he wasn’t added to the September call-up list. And it’s the beginning of a new, presumably happier saga in which the Sox’s top prospect gets to carry the franchise on his big shoulders.

When we spoke two weeks ago at Sox camp, Jimenez, 22, admitted he was feeling the pressure of being the face of the rebuild but also looking forward to the challenge.

Now that challenge has arrived, and we’ll soon see if he’s up to the task.

It’s good news for Jimenez, who presumably will get a chance to play in the majors sooner than expected and gets more guaranteed money than any other prospect before his major-league debut. And it’s even better news for the Sox, who will have a relatively inexpensive player with superstar potential under their control for eight years, or one more than they would’ve otherwise, assuming Jimenez remained in the minors until late April to prevent him from becoming a free agent until after 2025.

Whether Jimenez ultimately will regret the deal is another question. Frank Thomas signed a seven-year deal at the end of the 1997 season that potentially was worth $85 million with two option years. But by 2001, Thomas held out of camp in Tucson when Alex Rodriguez got a deal worth $25 million annually while the Big Hurt was making only $10.3 million.

“You see the pay scale is getting out of whack,” Thomas said. “You can’t have an A-Rod making $25 million and we’re coming in at $7, 8, 9 million. It’s a business. It’s just like Hollywood. You can’t have the top actor making $25 million and the rest (of the stars) making $10 million.”

The salaries for elite young players continue to escalate, as Alex Bregman’s six-year $100 million extension with the Astros attests, so Jimenez may have been able to get much more if he waited a few years and proved himself. But he also could’ve gotten injured and blown the chance.

Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo signed a seven-year, $41 million deal in 2013, with options through 2020 and ’21, taking security over the possibility of a megadeal down the road. Now Rizzo is one of the most underpaid stars in baseball and won’t be a free agent until he’s 32. But that’s the tradeoff, as Rizzo knew well when he signed the contract.

The Sox are adept at getting their stars signed to long-term, team-friendly deals. The decisions to give Chris Sale, Adam Eaton and Jose Quintana long-term deals well before they hit free agency also worked out well. Quintana’s team-friendly contract was the reason the Cubs agreed to give up both Jimenez and Dylan Cease for him in the July 2017 trade.

The Sox and shortstop Tim Anderson agreed to one such deal in 2017, a relatively modest six-year, $25 million contract with two club options that could push the total value to $50.5 million. Anderson, 25, has a way to go before making that look like a bargain for the Sox, but he showed much improvement in 2018.

There’s always the chance Jimenez could turn out to be a slightly above average hitter, or an injury-plagued outfielder. That’s the risk the Sox are taking by putting their faith in a player who is not major-league tested.

By all accounts Eloy is the real deal, but then again, so was Joe Borchard. Remember Joe? He was the Sox’s first-round draft pick in 2000, a switch-hitting outfielder who signed for a then-record $5.3 million bonus instead of returning to Stanford to be starting quarterback for the Cardinal.

Sox GM Ron Schueler had to have him at any cost.

“That’s the market today,” Sox designated hitter Harold Baines said at the time of Borchard’s bonus. “It’s outrageous, but good for him. If you can get it, why not go for it?”

Borchard hit 27 home runs with 98 runs in Double A in 2001 but fizzled out by the time he got to the Sox, hitting .205 with 26 home runs in a six-year career.

Jimenez surely will out-hit Borchard, and if all goes to plan he could be the millennial version of the Big Hurt.

The Sox may be in Year 3 of their rebuild, but in essence the clock starts when Eloy makes his debut.

psullivan@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @PWSullivan