The Guardians' offseason trade with the Blue Jays hasn't worked out for anyone

On Oct. 17, 2024, Andrés Giménez turned heads with another one of his dazzling plays in the field. In the top of the tenth inning, Giménez ranged to his left to corral a Jazz Chisholm Jr. grounder and made a twirling throw to Josh Naylor to prevent a hit and put a little less pressure on pitcher Pedro Avila.

Two months after that, none of those three players involved were still with the Guardians.

While the Guardians trading Naylor (an impending free agent) to the Diamondbacks made sense (as did the team cutting ties with Avila), their trade of Giménez shocked MLB considering his defensive pedigree in the field and the large contract extension he signed after the 2022 season. 

But that contract didn't precent the Guardians from linking up with the Blue Jays for a surprising trade of Giménez that hasn’t aged well for either side.

The Andrés Giménez - Luis Ortiz trade hasn’t worked out for anyone 

First off, here’s a look at how everyone’s returns broke down: 

Guardians acquire: RHP Luis Ortiz, LHP Michael Kennedy, LHP Josh Hartle and OF Nick Mitchell
Blue Jays acquire: 2B Andrés Giménez and RHP Nick Sandlin
Pirates acquire: INF Spencer Horwitz

While all of that happened across two trades, it’s just easier to think about it all happening as one trade. 

The Guardians initially acquired Horwitz from the Blue Jays, but quickly turned him around and flipped him to the Pirates in exchange for Ortiz. 

At first, it looked like the Blue Jays were going to be the clear winners in the trade after Giménez started the season strong with three home runs through his first seven games. While Giménez was a valuable piece of the team’s roster since he was acquired from the Mets in the Francisco Lindor trade, he had some clear flaws, most notably in the batter's box. 

After hitting .297 in his All-Star season in 2022, he posted an OPS+ of just 89 in 305 games with the Guardians in 2023 and ‘24. He still was one of the best defenders in baseball, but his offensive struggles became too much for the Guardians to deal with. 

That, coupled with his big contract, made him expendable, and the Blue Jays hopped on the opportunity to acquire him. 

And they might be regretting that decision. While he’s been worth 7 Outs Above Average in the field, he’s hitting just .218 and is currently on the injured list with an ankle sprain.

While he was hitting better prior to hitting the injured list (.253 batting average over his last 25 games), his offensive struggles reached a fever point earlier in the season when he was hitting just .195 in the middle of May. 

Although his ability to be a vacuum on defense is valuable, he’s still owed $86 million over the next four years of his contract. Not exactly a great value considering he’s been below average at the plate. 

But, much like the Blue Jays’ journey with Giménez, the Guardians’ journey with Ortiz has also been up-and-down. 

Cleveland’s acquisition of Ortiz made the trade of Giménez look a bit better. Although he wasn’t a complete pitcher when the Guardians acquired him (and still isn’t), he was coming off a season where he tallied a 3.32 ERA in 135 2/3 innings with the Pirates. 

He struggled in his first start with the Guardians, but got better as the season went on, highlighted by a stretch where he tossed 5 2/3 scoreless innings against the Yankees and six scoreless innings against the Athletics. 

But then things came to a screeching halt at the beginning of July when MLB announced that Ortiz had been placed on non-disciplinary paid leave through the end of the All-Star break due to an MLB investigation into gambling. That leave was eventually extended until the end of August.

So on one side we have an overpaid infielder who has been hurt and ineffective, and on the other we have an inconsistent starting pitcher who is staring down the barrel of a long-term suspension. 

And it’s not like the other pieces of the trade have been much better. Horwitz is hitting just .237 this year and is in the midst of a horrible July, while Sandlin is on the injured list for the second time this year.  

So far, the biggest win has been Hartle, who has a 3.14 ERA in 77 1/3 innings with High-A Lake County and is beginning to look like a guy who has a legit MLB future. 

And maybe Hartle ends up being a legit MLB starter, Ortiz’s suspension ends up going away and Giménez ends up recapturing his 2022 form at the plate. But until that happens, it seems like every team involved in this trade would like a re-do.

Hey, at least Avila's pitching well in Japan.