John from Albany - The Alternative 50 Mets Prospects, Number# 1 Andres Gimenez

#1: Andres Gimenez, SS, Bats Left, Throws Right, DOB 9/4/1998, Barquisimeto, Venezuela, Signed by the New York Mets as an International free agent on July 2, 2015.

Tom had Andres as his #4 prospect. Mack had him at #7. Baseball America had Andres Gimenez at #5. MLB.com had him at #3.  Mets 360 had him at #4. 

The issue could be that as recently as 2018, Andres was ranked even higher.  MLB.com had him as the number one Mets prospect in 2018 (with Pete Alonso #2). 

John Sickles had Andres his number #1 in 2018 saying: 1) Andres Gimenez, SS, Grade B/B+: Age 19, hit .265/.346/.349 against older competition in Low-A, with 14 steals, 28 walks, 61 strikeouts in 347 at-bats; huge jump from Dominican Summer League and he held his own very well; best offensive tool is speed, not much power at this point but his OBP skills look solid so far and he could be a top-of-the-lineup mainstay as he develops physically; more reliable than most shortstops his age and has the arm, hands, and range to stay there; makeup also a significant positive; ETA 2021.

After hitting .282/.348/.432 (.780 OPS) in 2018 at St. Lucie Mets fans had high hopes for his 2019 season in Binghamton. 

After 2019, Andres prospect position dropped.

Last year at Binghamton, Andres had slash line of .250/.309/.387 (.695 OPS).  However, last spring and summer in Binghamton it was cold and rainy and everyone had a tough time hitting.  In fact, Andres’ .250 average was good enough for the 2019 Rumble Ponies team lead. 

Andres seemed to turn things around when Upstate NY finally heated up in July hitting .295 but he fell back down to his .250 average in August. 

Andres also led the team with 54 runs and 28 stolen bases while winning the Sterling Mets Minor League Defender of the year award with a .973 fielding percentage, handling 402 of his 413 chances. 

Andres made MLB Pipeline's 2019 All-Defense Team as the SS.

Last fall in Arizona, he also hit.  Andres led the league with a .371 batting average and a .999 OPS ending the fall league on a 7 for 12 streak.

In 18 games, he had 26 hits in 70 at bats with 5 doubles, 2 triples, 2 homers, 15 RBI’s, 2 stolen bases and a .413 on base percentage.  He was also named to the Arizona Fall League All Star team and was named the starting shortstop for the East Fall Stars going 0 for 3.

He has also impressed with the glove this spring.  As Matthew Cerrone of SNY.TV noted: “one rival talent evaluator watching the Mets the past few days said ‘Andres Gimenez is already a better fielding shortstop than Amed Rosario.’”

Per John Harper SNY.TV: “21-year old Andres Gimenez was also turning heads with his play, prompting praise from [Manager Luis] Rojas and others about how much stronger he looked at the plate, driving the ball with some pop. That's significant because there are no questions about Gimenenz defensively. He's a natural with the glove, and if he hits at Triple-A this season, there will be increased speculation about whether he'll supplant Amed Rosario at short as early as 2021.” 

One more point, in his excellent post for Mack’s Mets “MetsShortstop Offensive Comparisons By Age”, Tom Brennan had this observation:

“Ruben Tejada at age 20 played mostly in AAA where he hit .280/.329/.344, and then hit .213 in his Mets debut.  At age 21, which is what Gimenez is entering, Tejada in 96 Mets games hit .284/.360/.335.”

So who is Andres Gimenez, the hot shot prospect of a couple of years ago or the SS that struggled to hit in the Binghamton cold last year? 

Well he has speed, plays good defense at SS, doesn’t strike out much, and has shown flashes of power (9 HR in 2019). 

I think he’s for real.  He’s my Alternative #1 Prospect.

And being that the Mets are one of the worst fielding teams in baseball, as the NY Daily News recently noted, and how defense can impact a game as this clip on a MLB.com post shows, I think the Mets may want to give Andres some regular turns at SS in Queens, even if he does not hit this year in Syracuse.

At the very least they should see if Rosario can handle CF, 3B, or 2B and finally think about using Cano as player off the bench. 

Here is Andres Gimenez’ FANGRAPHS page.

Here is Andres Gimenez’ Baseball Savant page.

SNY.TV video of the Andres Gimenez Spring homerun (among that games highlights).

You can hear Andres talk about his time in Arizona at this link. 

Video: Ali Sánchez & Andrés Giménez unwind after wrapping up their time in the Arizona Fall League.

Andrés Giménez: Mic'd Up!

Video from Andres in 2018 Arizona Fall League including a bunt base hit.

7/31/19: Binghamton's Andres Gimenez hits a solo homer off Erie's Casey Mize.

7/26/19: Andres Gimenez connects on a home run for the Rumble Ponies against the Baysox.