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Blue Jays To Designate Buddy Kennedy For Assignment

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The Blue Jays are activating infielder Andrés Giménez from the 10-day injured list, reports Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet. In a corresponding move, infielder Buddy Kennedy will be designated for assignment.

Kennedy was selected to Toronto’s roster a week ago. It seemed likely to be a short stay. He was hitting just .207/.309/.259 for Triple-A Buffalo at the time he was called up. His selection was less about his performance and more about the specific roster needs.

The Jays went with a temporary three-catcher setup. Ali Sánchez was selected to the roster when Alejandro Kirk landed on the concussion injured list. When Kirk was ready to return, Tyler Heineman was also banged up after taking a foul ball to the mask. They decided to keep all three for a few days, just to be safe, which meant bench infielder Leo Jiménez had to be optioned out as the corresponding move for Kirk’s activation.

A few days later, the Jays were comfortable enough with the health of Kirk and Heineman to bring back another bench infielder. Jiménez had not yet been optioned for the 10-day minimum, so he couldn’t be recalled. Giménez was still not ready to come off the IL but was beginning a rehab assignment. Kennedy got the roster spot while Giménez got into game shape. The Jays sent Kennedy to the plate 6 times and he got a hit and a walk, but he’s now been squeezed out.

Since Kennedy is out of options, he had to be removed from the 40-man. With the trade deadline having passed, the Jays will have to put him on waivers. He was passed through waivers unclaimed just over a month ago, after being designated for assignment by the Phillies, and could do so again.

He now has a .193/.288/.300 line in 163 big league appearances. His Triple-A work is better, with a .284/.395/.443 line and 118 wRC+ dating back to the start of 2023. However, his out-of-options status makes it hard for him to hold a roster spot for very long. If he clears waivers again, he’ll have to right to elect free agency since he has a previous career outright.

Photo courtesy of Kiyoshi Mio, Imagn Images

Blue Jays Place Andres Gimenez On 10-Day Injured List

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The Blue Jays announced a flurry of roster moves this morning, headlined by their move to place second baseman Andres Gimenez on the 10-day injured list with an ankle sprain. Outfielder Joey Loperfido was recalled to the big league roster to replace Gimenez. In a second set of moves, right-hander Ryan Burr was activated from the 60-day injured list. Right-hander Lazaro Estrada was optioned to Triple-A and outfielder Will Robertson was designated for assignment to make room for Burr on the active and 40-man rosters respectively.

Gimenez suffered an ankle injury on Wednesday, and aggravated the issue further on Friday after initially attempting to play through it. He was viewed as day-to-day initially, but Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet noted yesterday that Gimenez was being sent for an MRI. That MRI revealed a sprain, and the Blue Jays evidently felt the issue was severe enough to warrant a trip to the injured list. Gimenez’s exact timeline for return is not yet known, but the timing of the injury means he won’t be back until after the All-Star break at the very earliest.

It’s a tough blow for the division-leading Blue Jays, as while Gimenez is batting just .218/.300/.322 on the year he’s offered his trademark strong glove at second base and has heated up considerably since returning from a quad strain at the start of June. In 25 games since returning, Gimenez had slashed .253/.340/.349 with a wRC+ of 101. A combination of league average offense and Gimenez’s stellar defense is enough to make him an extremely valuable player, as seen in 2023 when he posted 3.8 fWAR for the Guardians despite a 97 wRC+.

While Gimenez is on the shelf, the Jays appear likely to rely on some combination of Will Wagner, Leo Jimenez, and Davis Schneider at the keystone. Loperfido is replacing Gimenez on the roster after posting a 111 wRC+ at the Triple-A level throughout this season, but he hit just .214/.264/.350 in 81 games for the Jays last year and seems unlikely to be much more than a depth option for the club during this return to the majors. Acquired from the Astros as part of the Yusei Kikuchi trade, Loperfido does actually have some experience at second base in the minors but has been limited to the outfield and first base at the big league level.

As for Burr, the right-hander is now poised to make his season debut after being sidelined by a bout of right shoulder inflammation during Spring Training. Burr posted a 4.08 ERA in 75 innings with the White Sox between 2018 and 2022 before spending the 2023 campaign in the Rays’ minor league system. He joined the Blue Jays for the 2024 season and posted a 4.13 ERA in 32 2/3 innings of work with an impressive 33.6% strikeout rate. Toronto is surely hoping Burr can leverage that high strikeout rate into stronger results going forward, and if he can it wouldn’t be hard to see him become a late-inning option for the Jays to help set up Jeff Hoffman.

Making room for Burr on the 40-man roster is Robertson, who crushed the ball at Triple-A this year to the tune of a .288/.410/.582 slash line (159 wRC+) in 51 games to break down the door to the majors and force himself onto the big league roster for the first time in his career. He ultimately appeared in just three games at the big league level, however, and struck out in seven of his 12 plate appearances in the majors. He did notch his first big league hit before getting sent back down, however, and since then he’s continued to hit at a high level in the minors. The Blue Jays will now have one week to either trade Robertson or attempt to pass him through waivers. If he goes unclaimed, he can be outrighted to the minor leagues as a non-roster depth option for the remainder of the season.

Blue Jays Designate Michael Stefanic, Ali Sánchez

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The Blue Jays have designated infielder Michael Stefanic and catcher Ali Sánchez for assignment, per a team announcement. Their spots on the roster will go to second baseman Andrés Giménez and catcher Tyler Heineman, who have formally been reinstated from the injured list.

Stefanic, 29, appeared in nine games for the Jays after Giménez hit the injured list and went 4-for-22 with four singles, three walks and three strikeouts. That marked the fourth season in which he’s logged big league time but the first that he’s done so for any team other than the Angels. Stefanic has appeared in 99 MLB games and batted .227/.314/.267 in 289 trips to the plate.

For all his struggles in limited big league time, Stefanic has excelled at the top level in the minors. He’s played parts of five Triple-A seasons and touts a .344/.436/.468 batting line in a hefty sample of 1568 plate appearances. Stefanic has drawn 190 walks in Triple-A (12.2%) against just 147 strikeouts (9.7%). He has nearly 3000 career innings at second base and about 700 innings of work at both shortstop and third base. He’s regarded as a poor defender at each spot, however, and offers below-average grades in both power and speed as well.

The 28-year-old Sánchez went 2-for-11 with a double in his short time with the Jays. He was selected to the major league roster when Heineman hit the 7-day concussion injured list. This is Sánchez’s fourth season with a brief big league appearance, but he’s never tallied more than 31 games or 96 plate appearances at the major league level in a given season. He’s a .176/.217/.222 hitter in 43 MLB games/121 plate appearances.

Though he’s never hit in his limited MLB time, Sánchez is regarded as a quality defensive backstop with a nice track record at the plate in Triple-A. He’s played parts of six seasons there and turned in a .266/.338/.399 batting line. It’s not exactly standout production, particularly in typically hitter-friendly Triple-A settings, but Sánchez puts the ball in play at a better-than-average clip and walks in nearly 10% of his plate appearances in Triple-A; for a catcher with a sound defensive skill set, that’s decent production — certainly enough to make him a quality No. 3 or No. 4 catcher on a team’s depth chart.

The maximum length of the DFA window for either Stefanic or Sánchez is seven days. The Jays are free to explore trades or place them on waivers along the way, although since waivers are a 48-hour process, they’d need to have a trade lined up within five days or else go the waiver route with either or both players.

Blue Jays Notes: Garcia, Swanson, Burr, Sandlin, Gimenez, Manoah

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Yimi Garcia was placed on the Blue Jays’ 15-day injured list on Saturday, as the reliever is dealing with a right shoulder impingement.  Manager John Schneider provided some updates on several injured players to reporters (including Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling) today, including the news that Garcia received a cortisone shot in his ailing shoulder and will therefore be shut down from throwing for a few days while the shot takes effect.  A more definitive recovery timeline won’t be in place until Garcia starts throwing, Schneider said.

Garcia hasn’t allowed an earned run in 19 of his 21 appearances in 2025, as all of his damage allowed (seven ER) came over back-to-back disastrous outings against the Guardians and Angels on May 3 and 6, respectively.  He has a 3.15 ERA and an excellent 28.9% strikeout rate over 20 total innings this season, but his 12% walk rate is far beyond his career norms, and his 23.8% chase rate is well below the league average.

Even with those minor red flags, Garcia was Toronto’s top set-up option behind closer Jeff Hoffman, so losing Garcia for at least 15 days is another tough break for a Blue Jays bullpen that has been missing some key arms for all or most of the 2025 campaign.  Erik Swanson has yet to pitch at all this year, due to median nerve entrapment in his right arm that surfaced during Spring Training and then some forearm soreness that interrupted the start of his minor league rehab assignment.

Fortunately, Swanson now looks ready to go, as Schneider said the reliever will get a rehab outing with Triple-A Buffalo on Tuesday.  Swanson was another pitcher ticketed for a set-up role this season, and he excelled in the position in 2023 and in the second half of the 2024 season, albeit only after an injury-marred first half.

The news isn’t as good for right-hander Ryan Burr, who went in for a check-up with team doctors following his Triple-A rehab appearance on Sunday.  Burr is another pitcher still waiting for his 2025 debut since he was dealing with shoulder inflammation in the spring, and Burr’s shoulder was still feeling some discomfort in the wake of Sunday’s outing.  More will be known soon if Burr’s soreness was anything serious, or if his rehab may be put on hold.

Nick Sandlin got his Blue Jays tenure off to a nice start when he posted a 2.25 ERA in his first eight innings with the team, before a right lat strain sent him to the 15-day IL back on April 20.  With now over a month spent on the sidelines, Sandlin is on the road to recovery, as he threw a bullpen session today at the Jays’ training complex in Florida.

Turning to position players, Andres Gimenez is also down in Florida, and Schneider said Gimenez is aiming to be part of a rehab game on Wednesday.  Acquired along with Sandlin in a big offseason trade with the Guardians, Gimenez drastically cooled off after a hot start, and was hitting only .195/.273/.305 over 143 plate appearances before a right quad strain sent him to the 10-day IL earlier this month.  Gimenez had been the Jays’ starting second baseman, and Ernie Clement has since moved to the keystone in Gimenez’s absence, bringing Addison Barger into the picture as the regular third baseman.

Alek Manoah also provided reporters with an update on his status during the Blue Jays’ recent visit to Tampa to play the Rays, as Manoah has been rehabbing from his Tommy John surgery at the Jays’ Dunedin complex.  Speaking with MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson and other media, Manoah is aiming to be back with the Jays in August, which would mark roughly a 14-month absence since he underwent his TJ procedure in June 2024.

As with any recovery from a UCL surgery, of course, this timeline is still pretty fluid.  Manoah is still in the bullpen session phase of his throwing progression (with twice-weekly bullpens of more than 40 pitches), so he has a ways to go before turning to his own minor league rehab work and fully building his arm up for a starter’s workload.

Once the burgeoning ace of Toronto’s rotation, Manoah’s career has been going sideways for the better part of three years.  Manoah followed up his excellent 2022 season with a miserable 2023 campaign that saw him lose his command of the strike zone and his spot on the Jays’ big league roster entirely.  He seemed to be somewhat back on track when he posted a 3.70 ERA over five starts and 24 1/3 innings in 2024 before the Tommy John procedure put Manoah on the IL.

It is anyone’s guess as to how Manoah may look once he makes his return to the active roster, yet even the 2024 version would be welcomed by a Jays team in need of rotation depth.  Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios, and Chris Bassitt remain the top three anchors of the pitching staff, but Bowden Francis has struggled, and Max Scherzer’s own injury problems have led to a revolving door of mostly ineffective options in the fifth starter’s role.

Blue Jays Select Michael Stefanic, DFA Dillon Tate, Place Andrés Giménez On IL

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The Blue Jays announced that they have placed second baseman Andrés Giménez on the 10-day injured list with a right quad strain. Infielder Michael Stefanic had his contract selected from Triple-A to replace Giménez on the active roster. In a corresponding move to open a space on the 40-man, right-handed reliever Dillon Tate was designated for assignment.

Giménez exited Wednesday’s game against the Angels early after hurting himself while running to first base on a bunt hit. He sat out the series finale on Thursday, so his IL placement is retroactive to May 8. The second baseman has struggled at the plate so far in his first season with the Blue Jays. Still, he has offered value with his Gold Glove-caliber defense and strong baserunning. Needless to say, his glove and his legs will be missed for however long he is out. As of right now, it’s hard to say how long that will be; the severity of his strain has not yet been made clear. In Giménez’s place, Ernie Clement will most likely get the bulk of the starts at second base.

Stefanic signed with the Angels as an undrafted free agent in 2018 and made his big league debut for L.A. in 2022. He appeared in 90 games for the Angels from 2022-24, seeing time at both second and third base. The infielder slashed .232/.317/.275 with a 72 wRC+ in 264 trips to the plate. Stefanic elected free agency last fall after he was outrighted off of L.A.’s 40-man roster, and he quickly latched on with the Blue Jays, signing a minor league pact in November. He has continued to mash at Triple-A Buffalo, much like he did as a minor leaguer in the Angels’ system. So far this year, he hit .319 with an .826 OPS and a 142 wRC+ prior to his call-up.

The Blue Jays claimed Tate off waivers from the Orioles in September 2024. He was a dependable middle reliever for Baltimore from 2020-22, pitching 158 innings with a 3.65 ERA and a 3.62 SIERA. However, he missed the 2023 season with a right elbow flexor strain and has not looked nearly as effective since his return. He pitched particularly poorly in his five appearances for Toronto this season, giving up three runs on seven hits and six walks in 5 1/3 innings of work.

Blue Jays Receiving Trade Interest In Bo Bichette

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The Blue Jays are taking trade calls on Bo Bichette, writes Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic. While Rosenthal cautions that Toronto is not actively shopping their shortstop, he reports that the Jays are willing to deal Bichette if another club meets a lofty asking price.

That’s a change from last month. At the GM Meetings in early November, general manager Ross Atkins told Jon Morosi of the MLB Network that any trade calls regarding Bichette would be “an easy no.” When a GM publicly shoots down trade rumors regarding a player to that extent, they rarely reverse course.

The biggest exception in recent years came when Juan Soto was a National. Washington GM Mike Rizzo said in June 2022 that the team was “not trading” the outfielder. Two months later, Soto was a Padre. Circumstances changed in the interim, as Soto rejected a $440MM extension offer a couple weeks before the deadline. (That decision proved wise considering the amount of money he landed in free agency two and a half years later.)

Toronto’s circumstances have also changed since Atkins said he wouldn’t consider a Bichette deal. The Jays acquired Andrés Giménez from the Guardians last week, taking on nearly $100MM on his five-year contract to do so. Giménez is the game’s best defensive second baseman. He has won the AL Gold Glove award at the keystone three years running. He came up as a shortstop prospect and didn’t fully move off that position until 2023.

Giménez has elite range, sure hands, and above-average arm strength. He could probably handle shortstop and may well remain a plus defender there. That seemed like Toronto’s long-term plan when they acquired him. Giménez would play second base for his first season with the Jays, then kick over to shortstop once Bichette hit free agency next winter.

That still seems the likeliest outcome. However, Rosenthal notes that the Jays could deal Bichette while signing Alex Bregman to pair with Giménez on the left side of the infield. Toronto has come up empty on its pursuit of top-tier free agents thus far. They’re among four to six teams that are reportedly in the mix on Bregman, who is easily the best unsigned position player. To be clear, Rosenthal didn’t characterize a Bichette trade as being conditional on the Jays signing Bregman. He simply floated that as one potential sequence of outcomes.

The Jays have Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Giménez, and Bichette lined up at three infield spots. Third base is less settled. Toronto has a collection of upper level infielders who are either light on MLB experience or project as utility types. Ernie Clement would probably get the bulk of the playing time. Orelvis Martinez, Addison Barger, Will Wagner and Leo Jiménez could also vie for reps.

That’s not a group that’d stop the Jays from adding Bregman. They’d have room on the roster for the star third baseman even if they hold Bichette. Dealing their shortstop would open spending room for the upcoming season while potentially bringing back MLB-ready outfield or pitching talent. Bichette is under contract for $16.5MM in his final year of club control.

At the same time, teams could be reluctant to package significant talent after the worst season of Bichette’s career. He’s coming off a dismal .225/.277/.322 showing over 336 plate appearances. He landed on the injured list three times and only appeared in half the team’s games. A pair of right calf strains were the biggest issue. He also broke his right middle finger late in the year and required minor surgery.

That terrible season came out of nowhere. Bichette has otherwise been one of the league’s best middle infielders since he debuted in 2019. He’d hit above .290 and reached 20 homers in each of his first three full seasons. Bichette went into the ’24 campaign with a career .299/.340/.487 slash line in more than 2300 plate appearances. He garnered down ballot MVP votes each year between 2021-23.

Teams don’t know which version of Bichette they’ll get in 2025. That’s also true of the Jays, who are wary of selling low on a star talent. Toronto has never seemed optimistic about their chance of signing him beyond next season, but they’re going into ’25 with the hope of competing. Trading a potential All-Star shortstop for prospects wouldn’t align with that goal. If they fall out of the race, they could market him at the deadline. The best scenario (short of an extension) would be a rebound year from Bichette that helps to keep Toronto in contention and allows them to make a qualifying offer next winter.

The Jays’ willingness to hear teams out on Bichette — even if an offseason trade remains unlikely — boosts a very thin shortstop market. Willy Adames was the top free agent. He went to the Giants, the team with the clearest combination of positional need and payroll flexibility. Ha-Seong Kim, who is recovering from labrum surgery that’ll force him to begin the season on the injured list, is the only other potential regular on the open market. There aren’t many obvious trade candidates. The Braves stand out as the contender with the biggest question at shortstop. The Tigers, Angels, Mariners, Padres and Pirates could also stand to upgrade at least one middle infield position (though the final three clubs might each balk at the $16.5MM price point).

MLBTR Podcast: Winter Meetings Recap

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams and Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Blue Jays Acquire Andres Gimenez

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The Blue Jays and Guardians are in agreement on a four-player trade sending second baseman Andrés Giménez to Toronto. The Jays get Giménez and reliever Nick Sandlin for infielder Spencer Horwitz and outfield prospect Nick Mitchell. No cash is changing hands, so the Jays are absorbing the final five years of the Giménez contract.

It’s the first out of nowhere trade of the Winter Meetings. While it’s never a complete shock to see Cleveland deal a high-priced player, there hadn’t been much to suggest they were shopping their Gold Glove second baseman. Giménez appeared to be a core piece since he signed one of the biggest contracts in franchise history just two seasons back: a seven-year, $106.5MM extension.

Instead, the defensive stalwart is on the move for the second time in his career. Giménez began his career with the Mets, where his well-rounded profile made him one of the system’s top prospects. Cleveland acquired him alongside Amed Rosario as the key pieces in their return for Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco during the 2020-21 offseason.

Giménez struggled during his first year in Cleveland, but he had a breakout showing in 2022. He played plus defense to win his first Gold Glove. Giménez also turned in an impact season at the plate, hitting .297/.371/.466 with 17 homers across 557 plate appearances. He was a deserved All-Star and finished sixth in MVP balloting in the American League.

Following that breakout season, the Guardians signed Giménez to the aforementioned extension. It remains the second-largest investment in the organization’s history, not too far behind the $124MM deal which José Ramírez inked the preceding spring. Cleveland surely envisioned building their long-term infield around that duo.

That’s not quite how things played out, as Giménez’s bat has taken a step backward. The Guardians probably didn’t expect him to repeat the offensive production he managed in 2022. He had a lofty .353 average on balls in play that would be hard to maintain, nor was he likely to be hit by as many pitches (an AL-high 25) as he’d been that year. Giménez’s numbers probably dropped off more sharply than Cleveland anticipated, though, as he has been a below-average hitter in consecutive seasons.

In 2023, the lefty-swinging Giménez hit .251/.314/.399 with 15 homers across 616 plate appearances. He improved his contact skills but saw his walk rate and power numbers take a step back. Those trends continued this year. Giménez managed just nine homers in 633 trips to the plate. He kept his strikeout rate to a tidy 15.3% clip but drew walks at a career-low 4.1% mark. He wrapped up the year with a middling .252/.298/.340 slash — his weakest offensive output over his three full seasons in Cleveland.

Despite the concerning offensive trends, Giménez remains a valuable all-around player. He has stolen 30 bases in consecutive seasons and is a good overall baserunner. He hasn’t had an injured list stint since 2020 and has topped 140 games in each of the last three seasons. Most significantly, he’s the sport’s best defensive second baseman. Giménez has been named the AL’s Gold Glove winner in three straight years. He has racked up 59 Defensive Runs Saved over that stretch. That’s well above Marcus Semien’s 37 mark that ranks second at the position. Statcast’s Outs Above Average doesn’t point to quite as big a discrepancy (49 to 40), but both metrics consider Giménez the game’s best keystone defender.

The Jays have poked around the market at second and third base. They have a handful of young players who are capable of manning one or both of those positions — Ernie Clement, Will Wagner, Joey Loperfido, Addison Barger, Orelvis Martinez and Leo Jiménez among them — but it’s a group light on MLB experience. Giménez has a much higher floor in the middle infield. He’ll play second base for at least the upcoming season. That’s probably his long-term home, though he could be an answer at shortstop if Bo Bichette walks next offseason. Giménez came up as a shortstop. He hasn’t played there since 2022, but he’s an athletic enough defender that he could probably handle the position.

The Jays are taking on a decent chunk of money to make that happen. Giménez is under contract for at least the next five seasons. He’ll make $10MM next year, $15MM in ’26, and $23MM annually for the final three guaranteed years. There’s a $23MM club option for the 2030 campaign that comes with a $2.5MM buyout. The deal also calls for a $1MM assignment bonus in the event of a trade. Including that bonus, Giménez is guaranteed $97.5MM for his age 26-30 campaigns. RosterResource calculates the Jays’ projected luxury tax number around $229MM, putting them roughly $12MM below next year’s base threshold.

Toronto also deepens a subpar middle relief group with the Sandlin acquisition. The low-slot righty has a solid track record over four years in the big leagues. Sandlin, who turns 28 next month, carries a 3.27 earned run average across 195 1/3 career innings. Despite a pedestrian 92-93 MPH fastball, he has shown the ability to miss bats. Sandlin carries a career 27.7% strikeout rate, which he essentially matched over 57 2/3 frames this past season.

The Southern Miss product has middling control. Sandlin walked 11% of batters faced this year, right in line with his 11.4% overall walk percentage. That’ll probably keep him in the middle innings rather than leverage work, but Sandlin’s four-pitch mix has helped him avoid the platoon issues that plague many ’pen arms. The Jays are desperate for any kind of reliability in the bullpen. Only the Rockies had a worse relief group this year. Toronto subsequently moved on from Jordan Romano, Génesis Cabrera and Dillon Tate. They’re in agreement to bring Yimi García back on a two-year free agent deal, but they could use as many as four or five relief acquisitions this winter.

Sandlin has a little less than four years of MLB service. He’s entering his second of four arbitration seasons after qualifying early as a Super Two player. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a $1.6MM salary next year. He should remain affordable over his three years of club control.

The biggest appeal for Cleveland is offloading the expensive portion of Giménez’s contract. Horwitz, 27, provides them with an upper level depth infielder. The lefty-hitting Horwitz has shown offensive promise both in Triple-A and the big leagues. He turned in an impressive .265/.357/.433 batting line over 381 plate appearances this year. Horwitz picked up 12 homers and 19 doubles while showing excellent strike zone awareness. He walked at an 11% clip while striking out 18.4% of the time.

Horwitz has a stellar minor league track record. He’s a career .316/.433/.471 hitter with nearly as many walks as strikeouts in 208 Triple-A games. He clearly has offensive ability, but he’s yet to get a full MLB run because of a lack of defensive value. Horwitz has been a first baseman for most of his minor league career. His 5’10” frame and hit-over-power approach are rare at that position. The Jays used him as part of their second base mix as well, but teams don’t seem to view him as an everyday player there.

The lack of defensive flexibility made Horwitz a tough fit on a team with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. He’s similarly squeezed in Cleveland. Josh Naylor would be the first baseman if he’s not traded. Kyle Manzardo could take over even if the Guardians move Naylor. Horwitz still has a minor league option, so he could go back to Triple-A, but he has nothing left to prove there offensively. It’d be a surprise if a Cleveland team that emphasizes infield defense is willing to use him as their regular second baseman. Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet tweets that Horwitz might end up being flipped to a third team.

In any case, the Guardians will need to find a new second baseman. Juan Brito is on the 40-man roster and hit .256/.365/.443 during his age-22 season in Triple-A. He’s a potential regular, though there’d be risk for Cleveland in relying on a player who has yet to make his MLB debut. The Guards could pursue a stopgap via free agency or trade if they want to add some stability coming off a division title. Over the longer term, the move opens second base for this year’s first overall pick Travis Bazzana. The Oregon State product profiles as a quick-moving second baseman who could get to the majors by the end of next season if all goes well.

Mitchell, a 21-year-old outfielder, rounds out the return. Toronto just drafted the Indiana product in the fourth round. A left-handed batter, Mitchell hit .289/.350/.467 in 22 games as a college draftee in Low-A. Baseball America wrote in its draft report that Mitchell had good contact skills and above-average speed that gave him a shot to stick in center field. He probably projects as a fourth or fifth outfielder.

Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported the Jays and Guardians were finalizing a Giménez deal. Kiley McDaniel of ESPN was first with Horwitz’s inclusion. Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic had Sandlin going to the Jays, while Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet was first to report the full trade and the absence of cash considerations.

Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Gold Glove Winners Announced

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Major League Baseball announced the Gold Glove winners tonight, as selected by a group of managers, coaches, and statistical analysis.  Twenty-five percent of the selection total was determined by SABR’s Defensive Index metrics, while the other 75 percent was determined by votes from all 30 managers and up to six coaches from each team.  The utility Gold Glove was determined in a separate fashion, via a defensive formula calculated by SABR and Rawlings.

National League winners….

American League winners….

Gold Glove Winners Announced

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Major League Baseball announced the Gold Glove winners tonight, as selected by a group of managers, coaches, and statistical analysis.  Twenty-five percent of the selection total was determined by SABR’s Defensive Index metrics, while the other 75 percent was determined by votes from all 30 managers and up to six coaches from each team.  Of the latter pool, managers and coaches were limited to voting on players in their own league, and they weren’t allowed to vote for any players on their own team.  The utility Gold Glove wasn’t determined with any votes, but rather via a defensive formula calculated by SABR and Rawlings.

The list of winners…

 

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