When the Guardians traded second baseman Andres Gimenez on December 11th, they made an active decision to try to fill the biggest deficiency on their roster: starting pitching.
Cleveland’s front office had done their best to patch their starting rotation on the fly in 2024, particularly after losing ace Shane Bieber for nearly the full season. In doing so, they did find some temporary success, particularly in the mid-season signing of Matthew Boyd. But with Boyd being a free agent and the Guardians wanting to build on an impressive 2024, they searched for and discovered additional starting pitching talent in Luis Ortiz. Ortiz would be the centerpiece of the return they received in the trade dominoes that began with Gimenez’s dealing to Toronto.
Ortiz should help the Guardians immediately. He will be just 26 years old in 2025 and is coming off of a season with a 3.32 ERA in 135 2/3 innings. He seems like a sure thing to make the Guardians’ starting rotation and could easily be listed as their third starter.
However, to get something you need to give something up. While there were legitimate on-field reasons to trade Gimenez- namely no improvement in sight for his underwhelming offense- his dismissal does leave a hole at second base for the Guardians.
Another reason the Guardians were likely willing to trade Gimenez is that they have 2024 first-overall draft pick Travis Bazzana waiting in the wings to play second base. That being said, it is nearly a certainty that Bazzana is not prepared for Major League play right now. While he could be ready to start on Opening Day 2026, the Guardians will need to bridge the gap until then.
So, how can the Guardians bridge that gap? From the trades they’ve made they have saved approximately $8 million on their payroll for 2025 (and even more in future years). That savings could (and probably should) be repurposed through other acquisitions. It was reported that the Guards had been in on free agent second baseman Gleyber Torres before he ultimately signed on the dotted line in Detroit, so the idea of them filling a void through free agency isn’t outrageous.
Realistic Free Agent Options
Most of the top-tier, high-priced middle infield talent is already off the board in terms of free agency though. Former Padre second baseman Ha-Seong Kim does remain, and he is a slick fielder that wouldn’t cause a huge drop off defensively from Gimenez while also being a better hitter. Unfortunately, the number of years he will be able to get on the open market is likely outside of a range Cleveland would be comfortable with.
There are some decent options in the next tier of free agents though. I’ve picked two I find interesting:
Whit Merrifield (.222/.311/.314, 10.4% BB% in 95 games in 2024) is a familiar name from his days as one of the best contact hitters in baseball with the Kansas City Royals. He will be 36 years old for the 2025 season as well as in his 9th year of MLB service. Formerly a three-time All-Star and one of the best lead-off hitters in the game between 2017 and 2020, he’s led baseball in hits and stolen bases multiple times. His skill set fits the ethos of the Guardians. At 36, he’s still an above-average base runner, has a history as a contact hitter and his defensive versatility has grown over the course of his career. If Bazzana or another young player earns time over the course of 2025, Merrifield could reasonably move to a utility role.
However, Merrifield has struggled offensively over the last few seasons. He signed a one-year contract with Philadelphia in 2024 but didn’t make it through the summer with the team. He finished the year in Atlanta and was better, but overall his slash line over the last three seasons is .253/.309/.365, which is nearly identical to the type of offensive player Gimenez has been in the years after his breakout 2022 season. Merrifield’s defense also is not at a level to tolerate his regression on offense. Merrifield could be an option to bring in, but it would have to be for the right price and it would need to be to compete with the Guardians’ homegrown options for a spot.
Jorge Polanco (.213/.296/..355, 16 home runs in 118 games in 2024) would be another option and is also another familiar name from within the American League Central. Polanco is coming off playing the final season of a six-year deal that started in Minnesota but saw him play 2024 in Seattle after being traded before the beginning of his walk year. Hobbled by a patella tendon issue for most of the season, Polanco didn’t hit in Seattle the way he did in Minnesota. He posted a .780 OPS over the course of his 10 seasons with the Twins, but his OPS was just .651 with the Mariners. He will be just 31 years old for the 2025 season, so while regression in his skills is possible, Polanco is young enough for it not to be a certainty. His expected stats do suggest he was a victim of some mild bad luck in 2024 (.288 wOBA vs .309 xwOBA), which contributed to his struggles, along with the injury.
Polanco has averaged 30 doubles and 20 home runs per 150 games over the course of his career (including last year’s down season), which is pretty comparable to the 26 doubles and 23 homers averaged by Torres, who had previously garnered the Guardians’ interest. Even with a poorer season last year, Polanco still hit 16 home runs, which would be more than all but two current Guardians in 2024. If he can get right, he could add some authority to the Guardians’ offense which is currently looking less potent due to the Naylor/Santana switch.
Polanco isn’t a particularly good fielder, he has metrics from both the Fielding Bible and Statcast that suggest he is slightly below average. With Santana at first base though, the Guardians could be willing to compromise some second base defense.
Even with his struggles in 2024, his OPS over the last three seasons is a very respectable .765, which could make up for the less stellar glovework. Polanco would be an intriguing addition that the Guards could probably get for a single year while not spending all their Gimenez savings. He feels spot on for exactly what they should be seeking- a low-cost, more offensively-minded second baseman they can hire on for a year to keep the seat warm for Bazzana.
Even More Realistic Internal Options
Granted, it is just as likely that the Guardians choose from one of many internal options for second base. The organization has been rife with young middle infielders for several seasons now and while they seem committed to Brayan Rocchio at shortstop, they have several options that could fill the second base void. If no one is brought in (or even if someone like Merrifield is), I suspect these options will compete for the second base job in Spring Training, starting with:
Daniel Schneemann (.218/.308/.368 in 73 MLB games last season) is a line drive hitter. Only Steven Kwan and David Fry hit line drives more often than Schneemann for the Guardians (minimum 170 plate appearances) last season. While Schneemann doesn’t necessarily have the power potential to couple with his line drives, he did hit and play competently enough in 2024 to make the post-season roster in a utility role. Second base is one of his most common spots and he would be fine manning the position over the course of the season. Due to his versatility, I suspect Schneemann will make the Opening Day roster, but if he impresses in the Spring, he could start the season at second base as opposed to being roster/bench depth.
Gabriel Arias (.222/.255/.353 in 53 MLB games last season) wasn’t seen by Guardians fans after mid-July last season, but they may not have seen the last of him just yet. Always gifted with physical tools, when Arias connects, he hits the ball hard with a natural inside-out swing. He’s a big, strong, athletic dude who has all the physical tools to legitimately be a great ballplayer, but he has never put it together in the Majors, as he has been worth negative Wins Above Replacement in 191 MLB games played.
His biggest issue at the plate has been a horrific propensity for chasing pitches outside the strike zone, leading to a nearly as horrific strikeout rate. His physical ability in the field could make him the closest facsimile to Gimenez as a player, but even that assumes that Arias will mentally lock in and use his talents to play in the field at a high level. Ultimately, second base could be Arias’s spot, but its going to be on him to put up or shut up. He will likely compete for the job in the Spring, but with an outside shot that requires him to come to camp refreshed and motivated.
Angel Martinez (.232/.298/.338 in 43 MLB games last season) hit the Majors with a bang last season, swinging his way to a .899 OPS in his first ten games in the big leagues. Unfortunately, his OPS was a meager .553 in his remaining 34 games for the Guardians. He’s another Guardian youngster with great contact skills and has the athleticism to be strong in the field and on the bases. He really made a name for himself in last year’s Spring Training before a hamate bone injury put him on the Injured List for the end of Cactus League play and the beginning of the regular season. Martinez could impress in the Spring again, and if healthy could hit with some more authority than his paltry slugging percentage last year suggests. Whether he can adjust to Major League pitching though is yet to be seen, but an uninterrupted spring and early portion of the season could certainly help him find that potential.
And lastly, Juan Brito (.256/.365/.443 in 144 AAA games last season) would be one other option within the Guardians organization, and the only one that Guards’ fans didn’t see in the Majors last season. Due to the fact that none of the above options really made the most of their opportunity last season, many fans and analysts have started putting their hopes into Brito. Brito will be 23 for most of the 2025 season, he is a switch hitter who projects as another strong contact hitter, but he could be set apart by his strong batting eye. Brito has walked 11% of the time or more in each of his seasons in pro ball. Acquired from Colorado in exchange for Nolan Jones, Brito is listed as the Guardians’ 7th best prospect by both Fangraphs and MLB.com. He’s probably more like a Polanco than an Arias or Martinez in the field, but if his bat-on-ball and plate discipline skills translate, he could be a solid contributor to the Guardians lineup. There’s just a lot of unknowns.
In Conclusion
If the Guardians are able to add Polanco to their roster, I think they ought to. The team is in a position where they are looking to build on an appearance in the American League Championship Series. Polanco could be a low-risk addition, likely making similar money to what they have committed to Austin Hedges. They do have a bevy of internal options to play second base this year, and while Schneemann played pretty adequately, no one separated themselves as a legitimate everyday player. This is why the spotlight has turned to Brito.
In the (fairly likely) event that Polanco is not brought in, there should absolutely be an open competition between these four candidates (and also possibly Tyler Freeman) for the second base job. I would think Schneemann or Brito would be the player that would need to be unseated for the spot. While Brito is a switch hitter and would likely play every day, Schneemann could also be paired in a platoon with either Arias or Martinez.
Ultimately, it would not surprise me to see Brito take the job while Schneemann makes the roster as a utility man who sees a lot of time. Martinez will need to impress again in order to make the team to break camp. Arias is a wildcard. If he comes to camp focused then the second base job could legitimately be his, but what are the chances of that? He is out of options, but I don’t see his situation ending well in Cleveland.
Most importantly, if a ball gets hit to second base right now, we don’t know who is going to be there to field it for the Guardians. They have plenty of options. This team could be better with any of them if they can contribute offensively in a way that Andres Gimenez didn’t.
But someone’s going to need to step up.
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