Former Guardians trade chip faces more pressure after Phillies-Bo Bichette deal

Last offseason the Cleveland Guardians made a big splash by trading Andrés Giménez to the Toronto Blue Jays less than seven years after he signed a seven-year, $106.5 million extension with the Guardians. 

And while the Guardians haven’t made a splash like that since (which is due in large part to them already trading said players away), the Giménez deal has been quietly lingering in the background for a better part of the past 13 months thanks to the Blue Jays’ success. 

But that success came largely in spite of Giménez, who hit just .210 in the regular season while dealing with a variety of injuries. He ended up coming back and helped Toronto on its quest toward the World Series, and now will be even more important to Toronto’s hopes to contend in 2026 due to Bo Bichette signing with the Phillies. 

Although the Blue Jays showed they’re clearly playing in a different sandbox than the Guardians due to their offseason spending spree, Giménez being under more of a microscope in Toronto will be an interesting storyline for Guardians fans to watch in the upcoming season. 

Giménez wasted no time making an impression in Toronto by hitting three home runs in his first five games with the club, but that ended up being his peak as he hit just four in his final 96 games of the season.

While he still provided his signature stellar defense that Guardians fans are no stranger to, his performance at the plate left a lot to be desired. 

He ended up slugging two more home runs in the postseason as the Blue Jays came within two outs of winning it all, but his bat felt more like a black hole than a positive addition.

Former Guardian Andrés Giménez just became even more valuable to the Toronot Blue Jays

The Blue Jays were able to take a little pressure off his back in the World Series thanks to the addition of Bichette (who had missed the start of the postseason with a left knee sprain), but Bichette recently defected to the Mets in free agency.

With Bichette gone, the Blue Jays are now set to enter 2026 with an infield picture consisting of Giménez, Ernie Clement, Leo Jiménez, Addison Barger and Davis Schneider.

While all of them played a big role in helping the Blue Jays get to the World Series, it’s still a bit of an uninspiring group, which is part of the reason why they’re considering dipping into their outfield depth in exchange for a trade for middle infield depth. 

The Blue Jays also added Kazuma Okamoto in free agency, but he’s likely going to work as a utility option more than an everyday one. 

While the Guardians don’t have a ton to show in return for Giménez thanks to Luis Ortiz getting placed on paid leave due to a sports betting investigation, getting off of his (self-inflicted) contract extension freed up space for Gabriel Arias and Brayan Rocchio while also freeing up some money on the books. 

The Guardians have plenty of former players who could haunt them with their performance elsewhere in 2026, but Giménez seems to be pretty low on that list after a bit of a disappointing showing last season. 

That said, it looks like he’ll get plenty of chances at shortstop for the Blue Jays in 2026, so his story may not be written just yet.