The Toronto Blue Jays are entering the stage where they fondly reminisce about some of the highlights over the past calendar year. They played a wildly entertaining regular season that culminated in a terrific postseason run. One of the trades they made prior to that dream season is celebrating its one-year anniversary.
The Blue Jays traded with Cleveland last December for Andrés Giménez and Nick Sandlin in exchange for Spencer Horwitz and Nick Mitchell. The Guardians then flipped Horwitz to the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he posted a decent 118 OPS+ in 108 games.
Mitchell played A-ball for the Guardians and posted decent offensive numbers as well. Sandlin suffered through an injury-marred year and subsequently found himself squeezed off the roster.
One year later, how does the Andrés Giménez trade look for the Blue Jays?
The Blue Jays were probably intrigued by Giménez’s extended team control and the ability to secure protection if Bo Bichette departed in free agency. Alas, Bichette remains a free agent and the Blue Jays largely got what they paid for.
Giménez had a truly insane beginning to the 2025 season, smacking three home runs in the first five games. It was so crazy that he batted cleanup in the first 11 contests. Eventually, his offensive numbers came back down to Earth. Before long, he was moved down and settled into the ninth spot in the batting order.
Giménez then became a folk hero during the club’s extended postseason run. With the Blue Jays losing the first two games of the ALCS at home, Giménez smacked a pair of two-run home runs in Games 3 and 4 that were exactly what the doctor ordered. In the entire 2025 postseason, he hit .215 with two homers, 12 RBIs and 10 runs scored over 18 games. This October represented his third postseason after appearing twice with the Guardians.
Unfortunately, his offensive numbers over the whole regular season were nothing to brag about. He was below average in every batting category except Whiff% and K% last season. He placed in the 70th percentile with a solid 17.9 K% and the 55th percentile with a 23.8 Whiff%. However, his 11 OAA indicated how sterling his defensive numbers truly were.
Giménez didn’t reach his 2022 heights that a lot of fans had envisioned. That being said, it feels like Blue Jays fans don’t blame this guy for a lot of the club’s problems. When the rest of the lineup is humming along, batting Giménez towards the bottom is not a huge issue. Especially if he can maintain that clutch gene.
The Blue Jays are in a different competitive posture than when they initially made this trade. Now, the Blue Jays ownership is in a position to spend money and the remainder of Giménez’s contract isn’t such an albatross. However, the Blue Jays should still expect a little more from the native of Venezuela going forward.
If Giménez is healthy, then hopefully he can use his legs to steal more bases. He only stole 12 bags after posting back-to-back seasons of 30 thefts. Give him another year and the trade can be judged better. Giménez has a high defensive floor that could lead to this trade becoming one of Ross Atkins’ better moves.
