Ross of Control

 
I think one of the biggest themes of the offseason was infuriating ownership. You know, what John Fisher was unable to do, what Bob Nutting is unable to do, what the Rays can't figure out. And there are enough people that don't put money into the team that Ross Atkins can hide behind them. Because Atkins DOES put money into the team, but he does it enough that it distracts from the times he doesn't. Like when he had not quite enough to net Shohei Ohtani, or not quite enough to net Juan Soto, but enough to net Anthony Santander. 

Already, one of the big stories of 2025 is going to be the fate of the remains of the 2019 rookie crew in Toronto. Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Alejandro Kirk represent the homegrown core of a team that should have had more postseason success than this. They were able to bring in people like George Springer, Chris Bassitt, Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios and now Andres Gimenez, AND KEEP THEM. And yet they still haven't won a postseason series, something the John Gibbons teams could do easily despite having far less homegrown talent. A combination of a tough division, unforeseen circumstances and the occasional piece that DOES leave has done them in. And 2025 could be the last chance for them to do anything, as Guerrero wants a bigger payday and Bichette may be similarly on the way out.

And that's why a singular Jays move from this postseason continues to vex me. Trading Spencer Horwitz, who was supposed to be an integral young infield piece for them going forward, for Andres Gimenez, who is a year younger and an all-around better player. And fundamentally that is a smart move. Upgrade the infield, pair Gimenez with Bichette. This is a move that could strengthen the Jays defensively going forward, even if 2025 doesn't happen.

But the thing about it, which is a weird thing to sound out, is that the Cleveland Guardians, in trading their all-star, three time gold-glover that they'd signed for the remainder of the decade, is that the Guardians had the leverage. They nearly got to a World Series last year. Their farm system has made them competent for the next several years. They can trade Gimenez because they have Gabriel Arias for the moment and both Juan Brito and Travis Bazzana in the plan for later. They can afford to give up a second baseman. 

And more proof that Cleveland had the leverage lies in what they did with Horwitz. Before the ink was too dry on the Gimenez deal, the Guardians swapped Horwitz to Pittsburgh in exchange for, amongst other pieces, Luis Ortiz, who'd immediately factor into the rotation and allow for slightly more stability in an injury recovery year for multiple starters. The Jays needed all the infielders they could grasp [a far cry from 'sure, have Kevin Smith'], and the Guardians were givin' em away. The Guardians are playing from first, and the Jays are playing to stay out of last. So even if they potentially got the best player out of all of this, Gimenez may have walked into a less prosperous situation than Cleveland. Him and Bichette will be a good DP combo, but who knows how long that'll last.

Meanwhile, the Guardians aren't sweating about lessening the defensive impact of their infield because they still have Brayan Rocchio. Rocchio had an incredible defensive season last year, despite coming up short at the plate. He's crossed that threshold where the team can trust him with the infield, and give Arias or eventually Brito over as a DP partner. He's not Lindor caliber, but he's been hitting well this spring, so maybe things turn around. It happened for J-Ram, let's be clear.

The Guardians are good enough now that they don't need Andres Gimenez, whereas the Blue Jays are desperate enough now that they really need him. And that should tell you how both their seasons are probably going to go.