Blue Jays quickly learning the Andrés Giménez reality that Guardians already knew

For the first five games of the 2025 season, Andrés Giménez looked like Barry Bonds for the Toronto Blue Jays. Not only did he crush three home runs in the span of 18 games, but he also recorded two doubles and a stolen base.

His OPS sat at 1.399, which is why Blue Jays manager John Schneider moved him to the cleanup spot in the lineup. All of Canada began planning out the route for the team’s World Series parade. 

And then he came back down to earth harder than a Roy Oswalt curveball. 

After hitting .333 across that five-game span, Giménez has hit just .186 in his 42 games since, which is exposing Blue Jays fans to a reality that Guardians fans had become far too familiar to during Giménez’s time in Cleveland.

Blue Jays quickly learning the Andrés Giménez reality that Guardians already knew

There’s no denying that Giménez treated Guardians fans to some incredible feats during his time in Cleveland. He won three Gold Gloves, earned an All-Star nod and was a magician in the field. 

But his struggles in the batter’s box eventually became too much. The Guardians gave him a seven-year, $106.5 million contract after his hit .297 with 17 home runs and 69 RBI in 2022. He then went on to hit just .252 across 305 games in 2023 and ‘24, which led to him being expendable. 

The Guardians found a willing trade partner in the Blue Jays, who took on Giménez (and his contract) along with Nick Sandlin in exchange for 1B Spencer Horwitz, who the Guardians then flipped to the Pirates in exchange for Luis Ortiz. 

And it’s been more of the same from Giménez this year. He’s among baseball’s best in the field (95th percentile in Outs Above Average), but has also subpar at the plate (74 wRC+). 

He missed a little more than a month due to a right hamstring strain, and hasn’t been in the lineup as much since due to a strong showing from old friend Ernie Clement (.298 average in 71 games). 

It’s a refrain that’s been echoing in Cleveland for years. After opening last year as Cleveland’s No. 2 hitter, Giménez spent most of the second half hitting in the No. 6 or 7 spot in the lineup before hitting in the bottom of the lineup in the postseason. 

And while Cleveland’s defense has taken a hit this year because of the lack of Giménez, they’ve gotten a lot more production out of second base this year. This year, Cleveland's second baseman have combined for a wRC+ of 95, which is 12 points higher than the mark they had last year. 

It also opened up room for the Guardians to give everyday at-bats to Daniel Schneeman (43 appearances at second base) and Gabriel Arias (28 appearances). 

While the Guardians likely didn’t imagine that shortstop would also be open due to Brayan Rocchio’s struggles, having second base open allowed for both of them to get a shot to prove they can be everyday MLB players without having to constantly shift around the diamond.

It’ll be worth seeing how this trade ages. The Blue Jays entered play on Thursday seven games above .500 and in firm hold of an American League Wild Card spot, while Giménez has still been worth 1.0 bWAR despite his offensive struggles. 

Giménez will always be beloved in Cleveland thanks to his glove and desire to play everyday, but it got to a point where his offensive shortcomings just became too much. As of now, that refrain seems to ring true throughout the first four months of his Blue Jays tenure.