The Blue Jays were reportedly in on the bidding for both Juan Soto and Max Fried. They missed out on both, so they changed course and swung a deal to land a 26-year-old defensive wizard for their middle infield.
On Tuesday night the Blue Jays reportedly sent first baseman Spencer Horwitz and Minor League outfielder Nick Mitchell to the Guardians for second baseman Andrés Giménez and right-handed reliever Nick Sandlin.
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
As of publishing, neither team has confirmed the trade; however, Mark Feinsand reported an addition to the deal later that night.
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
Assuming it does go through as reported, what does the deal do for the fantasy value of the players involved and their new teammates? What does it mean for the playoff implications for the Blue Jays and Guardians? We’ll go over all that here.
How does this impact Andrés Giménez’s fantasy value?
In honesty, it doesn’t. We kind of know who Giménez is at this point and moving to Toronto doesn’t change that.
The 26-year-old broke out in 2022 when he hit .297 with a .837 OPS while playing elite defense. That allowed him to post a 6.1 WAR, but he’s been unable to match that over the next two years, posting OPS marks of .712 and .638 over the last two seasons with WARs of 3.8 and 2.8.
Giménez has finished somewhere between 64 and 76 runs scored in each of the last three years and driven in between 62 and 69 runs in each of those last three years. He also stole 30 bases in each of the last two seasons. He did all of that while hitting mostly sixth for the Guardians and, unless the Blue Jays decide to move George Springer or Bo Bichette down in the order, then Giménez is going to hit sixth for the Blue Jays as well.
However, last year, the Blue Jays scored fewer runs than the Guardians, had fewer RBI than the Guardians, and had a 101 wRC+ compared to a 100 for the Guardians. So Giménez will likely hit in the same spot in the order in a lineup that might be slightly weaker than the one he was in last season. Rogers Centre is a slightly better park for left-handed hitters, according to Statcast Park Factors, and is better for power in…