The Cleveland Guardians’ Surprise All-Star Is No Surprise To The Front Office

Here’s one for your “That’s Baseball” file:

Over the last three years, which major league player has been selected to the All-Star team more times: Francisco Lindor or Andres Gimenez?

You’re wrong.

The correct answer is Andres Gimenez. Over the last three years Gimenez leads Lindor in all-star selections 1-0. Gimenez, the Cleveland Guardians’ second baseman, was an American League all-star selection this year.

New York Mets shortstop Lindor hasn’t been selected to the all-star team since 2019, when he was playing for the Guardians. Even more intriguing: On January 7, 2021, the Guardians traded Lindor to the Mets for Gimenez, shortstop Amed Rosario, and two minor leaguers.

Let’s just say that so far, the payroll-conservative Guardians are very comfortable with that trade. After being traded to the Mets, Lindor signed a 10-year, $341 million contract.

Lindor’s salary this year is $32 million.

Gimenez’s salary this year is $706,600.

Cleveland president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti and general manager Mike Chernoff, two of the game’s most accomplished baseball bargain hunters, weathered the immediate and expected fan backlash following the Lindor trade, but a year and a half later, the Guardians have an all-star second baseman and the Mets have Francisco Lindor, and his whopping contract that the Guardians could never afford.

Ironically, the departure of Lindor probably freed up some of the money that Cleveland used to keep Lindor’s former left-side-of-the-infield partner, third baseman Jose Ramirez, in Cleveland. On opening day, the Guardians signed their perennial all-star and MVP candidate to a seven-year $141 million contract extension.

Following the Guardians’ 5-1 loss in Kansas City on Sunday, Cleveland manager Terry Francona called a team meeting to announce the team’s three all-star selections: Ramirez, as expected, was selected for the fourth time in the last six years, and closer Emmanuel Clase who leads the American League in saves, was a first-time selection.

The playful Francona then paused for a count, and said, “Oh wait, there’s one more. . .”

“We introduced Gimenez, and the place went bananas,” Francona said. “In the midst of a really tough (1-6) road trip, that was a nice minute.”

The Gimenez all-star selection was also not a fluke. Just for comparison’s sake, at the time of the all-star selections, Gimenez had a slash line of .299/.354/.479, an .833 OPS, nine home runs and 40 RBI. Lindor: .239/.316/.421, a .737 OPS, 15 home runs and 60 RBI.

Obviously, those numbers are from players in two different leagues, at two different stages of their careers. Lindor, to this point, has clearly had a better overall career than Gimenez, one reason being that the 28-year-old Lindor is in his eighth season in the big leagues, while the 23-year-old Gimenez has just over one year of service time in the major leagues.

Additionally, the trade is yet another example of the Cleveland front office’s uncanny ability to identify and acquire future impact players in the minor league systems of other teams. It’s a good skill to have for a team that struggles to keep its own stars from leaving as free agents, is forced to trade its stars before they become free agents, and is traditionally no player in the sport’s yearly shopping spree for big-ticket free agents.

In recent years, among the players the Guardians have plucked from other teams’ minor league systems in exchange for stars Cleveland could no longer afford are Corey Kluber, Michael Brantley, Cliff Lee, Carlos Carrasco, Carlos Santana, Mike Clevinger, and Clase, who Cleveland acquired three years ago, from Texas – in exchange for Kluber.

In 2020 with the Mets, Gimenez played second base, third base and shortstop, but after being acquired by Cleveland, he split time between shortstop and second base at Triple-A Columbus in 2021. He played in 68 games with the big-league club and appeared overmatched offensively, hitting just .218.

“Last year everything was new to him,” Francona said. “New team, a little bit of a new position. I think he felt he had to get hits to stay in the lineup. That’s a hard way to play. Now he’s a year more familiar with us, with his game, with everything. And he’s shown he’s a pretty good player. Not just as a hitter. He runs the bases the way you’re supposed to, he plays the (bleep) out of second base. Just a really good player and he’s getting better. He’s still really young.”

Gimenez said he is looking forward to his first all-star experience. “It’s a validation of all the work I’ve done myself, and the help I’ve gotten from my coaches,” he said. “When I was a kid, I used to watch the all-star game on TV. To be there will be a very special moment for me and my family.”