It didn't take long for the Yankees to pivot after losing out on Juan Soto, and it took even less time for the Blue Jays to change direction after losing out on Max Fried.
According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, the Blue Jays have acquired three-time Gold Glover Andrés Giménez from the Cleveland Guardians.
BREAKING: The Toronto Blue Jays are finalizing a trade to acquire three-time Gold Glove-winning second baseman Andrés Giménez from the Cleveland Guardians, sources tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 10, 2024
Giménez has been worth 16.7 WAR over the past three season, mostly thanks to his otherworldly defense and brilliant baserunning (20+ steals in each year since 2022). His bat, however, has declined, with his OPS peaking at .837 in 2022 and falling precipitously to its 2024 mark of .638.
The Blue Jays are gambling on Giménez to make a bounce-back with at the plate, though they know what they're getting from the 26-year-old otherwise. He signed a seven-year, $106.5 million deal that runs through 2029 and will pay him $23+ million in each season from 2027 onwards.
Blue Jays get much-needed 2B help, Guardians secure payroll relief and prospects in Win-Win deal
Giménez is going to have a tough time living up to his contract as long as his bat remains inneffective, but for a Toronto team that started eight different players at second base in 2024, his glove and durability (146+ games played in each of the past three seasons) are worth the price of admission.
His presence could, feasibly, make Bo Bichette available in trade talks. Giménez's prime value is at second base, though he has logged over 634 innings at shortstop in his career (but none since 2022). Bichette, coming off the worst season of his career, may not fetch the same haul he would have a year ago, but he's a free agent after next season and the Blue Jays still need to extend Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Though Giménez is the headliner, there are three other players shifting teams in the trade:
Full trade: Spencer Horwitz and minor league OF Nick Mitchell for Andres Gimenez and Nick Sandlin. No cash considerations.
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) December 11, 2024
Sandlin is the other piece coming to Toronto, and he's got three years of team control before hitting free agency. On the surface, his numbers are promising — career 3.27 ERA, 55+ innings pitched in back-to-back seasons, 27.7% strikeout rate — but his peripherals are concerning. His FIP was a bloated 5.23 in 2024, and his career figure is more than a full run higher than his ERA (4.41). His walk rate sits at 11.4%, and his average exit velocity allowed has climbed throughout his career, peaking at 89.6 MPH in 2024.
He's got elite off-speed offerings and a top-notch whiff rate, but the Blue Jays have work to do in order to extract maximum value out of Sandlin as a reliever.
For Cleveland, the most important part of this deal is getting out from underneath Giménez's contract just as it was set to become expensive. If his bat recovers, it'll look like a bargain, but as long as he's a speed-and-defense-only guy, it was a drag on a small-market team's payroll.
Spencer Horwitz is the big get on the personnel side of things, as he posted a .790 OPS and exceedingly impressive peripherals — 18.4% strikeout rate, 11.0% walk rate, 88.2 MPH average exit velocity — in his first extended look at big league action this past season. However, he's a 27-year-old with very limited defensive versaility, and it will be fascinating to see how Cleveland manages their first base rotation of Kyle Manzardo, Josh Naylor, and Horwitz.
It is also a distinct possibility that Cleveland flips the older prospect in exchange for a new long-term starter at second base.
Some people at the Winter Meetings wonder if there might be a third team involved trying to acquire Spencer Horwitz. One source wondered about the Pirates.
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) December 11, 2024
Nick Mitchell, a fourth-round pick from the 2024 MLB draft, posted an .817 OPS in 22 games at Low-A after being selected. At 21 years old, he's years away from making an impact, and represents more of an upside play for a Guardians team that is constantly trying to maximize their player development.
In all, it's a move that makes sense for both sides, especially since Horwitz was blocked by Guerrero Jr. in Toronto. The winner of this trade will ultimately come down to whether or not Giménez starts hitting again, but as far as out-of-nowhere deals go, this one seems pretty sensible.
Update: The Guardians have indeed chosen to flip Horwitz to a third party. They are sending him to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for breakout swingman Luis Ortiz, left-handed pitching prospect Josh Hartle (No. 17 on the Pirates' Top 30), and left-handed pitching prospect Michael Kennedy (No. 15).
Per sources, the Guardians are getting Hartle, Luis Ortiz and Michael Kennedy from the Pirates in the Horwitz deal.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) December 11, 2024