No. 2 Andres Gimenez, SS
B/T: L/R Age: 21 (8/21/1998)
Height: 6’0″ Weight: 161 lbs
Acquired: International Free Agent (July 2, 2015)
ETA: 2021 Previous Ranking: 1
2019 Stats: 117 G, .250/.309/.387, 22 2B, 9 HR, 37 RBI, 105 WRC+

Andres Gimenez sitting near the top of the Mets’ farm system has become a yearly tradition. While stat-line-scouting would say that Gimenez had a down year, there’s more to it than just the slash line.

Gimenez was placed on the injured list in early June after being drilled in the hand with a pitch, but came back later in the month and hit .261/.305/.441 the rest of the way, a strong contrast to his .235/.313/.352 line up until then.

The left-handed hitter was sent to the Arizona Fall League in 2019, and the results where tremendous. Gimenez led the league with his .371 average and .999 OPS. All while playing plus defense at short.

The emergence of the likes of J.D. Davis and Jeff McNeil, length of contract for Robinson Cano, and strong finish to 2019 from Amed Rosario, have clouded the future path for Gimenez to the major leagues.

Entering 2020, Gimenez has seen a drastic fall down several prospect rankings, including MLB Pipeline, Baseball Prospectus and Baseball America. Gimenez slipped from a consensus top-50 prospect to barely making the top-100 lists at all, as MLB Pipeline dropped him from 58th to 84th and Baseball Prospectus docked him down a dramatic 52 spots, from 38th to 90th.

Gimenez is the oldest of a loaded group of minor league infielders for the Mets, including the likes of Ronny Mauricio, Shervyen Newton, Mark Vientos and Brett Baty. Gimenez has the shortest path to the majors for any of them, and could possibly make an impact as soon as 2020.

Gimenez made his professional debut with the Mets in 2016 in the Dominican Summer League. After tearing the league up, he received a promotion to the advanced Dominican Summer League and saw similar results. He was sent stateside prior to the 2017 season, and then shipped straight up to Columbia, skipping straight over short-season Brooklyn, Kingsport, or their Gulf Coast League affiliate.

Gimenez had a fine 2018 campaign that saw him hit .281/.347/.409 between St. Lucie and Binghamton. The strong season saw him jump as high as 30th in Baseball America’s Pre-Season Prospect Rankings, and 38th on Baseball Prospectus’ list.

Gimenez will almost certainly start the season in Triple-A Syracuse, but whether he spends the entire season there or not is still up for debate. Many prospect rankings project his ETA as 2020 or 2021, and his development in the first few months of the season likely determines whether Gimenez sees Queens this season. ZiPS Projections see Gimenez’s potential input to the 2020 Mets as marginal, with a .218/.273/.341 slash line over 528 plate appearances, with a 65 wRC+.

Gimenez has spent most of his career to date as a shortstop, but with Amed Rosario potentially establishing himself as the Mets’ shortstop for the next five to ten seasons, it’s hard to see the Mets moving on from him.

So the question then becomes, what becomes of Andres Gimenez? One may look to him as a second baseman, but that position also sees a logjam with Cano and McNeil. Gimenez has played 26 games at second during his career.

While there have been rumors in the past about a potential move to center field for Rosario, but nothing ever materialized from said rumors. Gimenez’s glove impressed at short earlier this spring, with several solid plays, proving his legitimacy at the position. He was recognized by opposing managers for his polished glove, they said he was the defensive shortstop in the Eastern League during 2019 play.

Gimenez featured a few changes in his swing this spring in an effort to add more power. The 21-year-old added muscle in the offseason as well.

Behind Gimenez is the Mets’ top prospect, Ronny Mauricio, who is likely slated to start the season in St. Lucie.

With a stud shortstop prospect hot on his heels and the starter on the big league club continuing to improve by the season, Gimenez has no clear role with the Mets in the coming future. As he is expected to start the season in Triple-A Syracuse, 2020 will likely be a big year for the development of Gimenez (if there even is a season) and as to how the Mets see him in their future plans.

Previous Rankings

4 Matthew Allan – RHP, 5 Mark Vientos – 3B, 6 Brett Baty – 3B, 7 David Peterson – LHP, 8 Shervyen Newton — INF, 9 Thomas Szapucki – LHP, 10 Josh Wolf – RHP, 11 Kevin Smith – LHP, 12 Franklyn Kilome – RHP, 13 Jordan Humphreys – RHP

14 Junior Santos – RHP, 15 Carlos Cortes – 2B, 16 Freddy Valdez – OF, 17 Adrian Hernandez – CF, 18 Dedniel Nunez – RHP 

19 Alexander Ramirez – OF, 20 Ali Sanchez – C, 25-21 Led by Jaylen Palmer, 30-26 Led by Ryley Gilliam