The Toronto Blue Jays relied heavily on Andres Gimenez to fill the shortstop role when Bo Bichette went down injured this past season.
Gimenez filled the role and helped lead the Blue Jays to the World Series, but it left a hole at second base when he slid over to the other side of the infield.
Now, with the offseason fully underway, Toronto is preparing for any possible combination of middle infielders to happen next year. General manager Ross Atkins made it clear the organization doesn’t want to leave any major holes in the roster.
“He’s preparing as if he could play both,” Atkins told Mitch Bannon of The Athletic. “Which means, from a mindset standpoint, he’s thinking more about shortstop at this point. But we’re going to stay in touch with him on a weekly basis.”
Of course, the ideal solution for the Blue Jays would be to bring back Bo Bichette and have Gimenez play second base. However, it is still unknown if Bichette will return despite Toronto wanting it to happen. There wasn’t any progress reported on for Bichette’s market at the winter meetings as all of it was centered around Kyle Schwarber, Edwin Diaz and Pete Alonso.
If Bichette does not return, then the decision for which position Gimenez plays comes down to who else is acquired this winter. In the free agency market, the best second basemen available are Willi Castro and Jorge Polanco and signing both of them would keep Gimenez at shortstop next season. If the Blue Jays choose to bring in a shortstop not named Bichette, Ha-Seong Kim and Isiah Kiner-Falefa would be best choices remaining.
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