MLB trade grade: Blue Jays finally find an infielder in out-of-nowhere deal with Guardians

The MLB Winter Meetings always deliver one or two surprises. It just would have been bold to predict the Cleveland Guardians would trade away second baseman Andrés Giménez to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Despite their recent run to the ALCS, the Guardians dumped a flawed, but fan favorite starter. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays picked up some much-needed defense.

Who won this trade? It all comes back to the return.

Initial reports confirmed Giménez and reliever Nick Sandlin are going to Toronto while infielder Spencer Horwitz and minor league outfielder Nick Mitchell is going to Cleveland.

UPDATE: The Guardians turned around and traded Horwitz to the Pirates. More on that here.

Andrés Giménez trade grade for Blue Jays

Platinum Glove defenders are generally good to have in your infield. Giménez isn't just an above-average defensive force. He's one of the best in baseball. So in that sense, Toronto is getting someone who is certain to pull their weight at second base for years to come.

The trouble is, the Blue Jays need offense and Giménez is not that. He was an All-Star in 2022 while batting .297/.371/.466 with an OPS+ of 141. That's great! If Toronto is getting that, then they just pulled off a genius trade. Unfortunately, the evidence suggests they're not going to get that.

In the last two seasons, Giménez's OPS+ has dropped from 141 to 96 to 82. He slashed .252/.298/.340 in 2023 and only got worse in 2024, slashing .252/.298/.340.

But wait, it gets worse! Giménez parlayed his stellar 2022 season into a seven-year, $106.5-million contract. Two seasons in, that deal looked like a bit of a blunder for Cleveland. Now it's Toronto's problem.

Ultimately, the perception of this trade will depend on what else the Blue Jays do this offseason. If Toronto lands a bat or two from elsewhere, then the gamble on Giménez would be understandable. He's a good player, one who will take any guess work out of second base, at least defensively.

If he's their only major acquisition though, then fans will rightly wonder why they wasted the Spencer Horwitz trade piece on someone who brings so little to the plate.

Sandlin is a middle-reliever who won't light the world on fire, but he could be a solid addition to the bullpen if nothing else.

Grade: C

Andrés Giménez trade grade for Guardians

It'll be a tough pill to swallow for Guardians fans to watch Giménez leave Cleveland. Dreams of him rediscovering his 2022 form were still alive. If he becomes that player again in Toronto, it'll be even more painful seeing him in a new uniform.

Still, as I laid out above, there were reasons to try to cut bait on Giménez. It just looked like bad business paying him $25 million over the next two years, with $23 million per year on the backend of his contract.

Clearly, Cleveland is signaling they don't have great hopes of him figuring it out with the bat in his hands.

By comparison, they're banking on Spencer Horwitz recreating his rookie showing of .265/.357/.433 with an OPS+ of 125 in 97 games in the majors this year.

Horwitz has six years of team control remaining and he'll be making the league minimum for the next two years. That's plenty of time for Cleveland to decide what his future, especially with the versatility to play first or second base.

However, he's not exactly young. He just turned 27 in November. Josh Naylor, who would seem to be on the trade block, is the same age but he has 2,259 plate appearances to Horwitz's 425. The production from the newcomer is good. The sample size is small enough to create doubt about long-term value.

As for Mitchell, his value is impossible to judge at this point. He was a 2023 fourth-round pick who showed some promise in Single-A ball this year. He just turned 21.

The return honestly feels light for Cleveland, but that's likely to balance out the salary dump. If it helps the Guardians lock down Steven Kwan or Tanner Bibbee, then no one will complain.