Mets make perplexing choice with Andres Gimenez on the Opening Day roster

New York Mets prospect Andres Gimenez will join the club on the 2020 Opening Day roster in one of the most perplexing decisions made by Brodie Van Wagenen this year.

In a surprise move, the New York Mets have added top infield prospect, 21-year old Andrés Giménez, to their opening day roster. Giménez is ranked the No. 84 overall prospect by MLB Pipeline and the No. 3 ranked Mets prospect.

GM Brodie Van Wagenen said, “Andrés was a player we felt like on Opening Day gives us a chance to help us win games.”

How? Where will Giménez find playing time? Amed Rosario is the Mets starting shortstop and should continue to be. Robinson Cano will surely play most of his games at second base. Giménez’s two positions are shortstop and second base. Where is Giménez’s path to playing time?

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When Cano is DH or taking the day off, Giménez can slide in at second base. But, with Yoenis Cespedes and JD Davis surely going to see time at DH this season, Cano will not always have that option available.

With no minor league season, it may make sense to keep Giménez around the big league club, since he doesn’t have any other option to develop this season. While being young for Double-A, Giménez did not crush it in 2019 and has not proven he is ready for the big leagues.

Last season, Giménez hit .250/.307/.387 in 117 games. He had 9 home runs and 28 stolen bases with a wRC+ of 105, slightly above the league average of 100. Overall, it wasn’t terrible for Giménez, and he played in a pitcher-friendly league. But, the 21-year old didn’t mash to the point where he proved he deserved a promotion.

In the Mets defense, if the MLB and MiLB seasons began as normal then we probably would not have seen Giménez called up to the bigs this season. The baseball world is incredibly wacky right now and circumstances may dictate calling up Giménez as the right move. Giménez is on the 40-man roster and giving him a roster spot is a convenient move to make. If Giménez was going to sit at home with the rest of the minor leagues, getting him some playing time with the Mets this season may be the best option for his development.

There is no question that if Giménez does not perform well, we may not see him back on the Mets until 2022 when he is 23-years old. Someone will have to replace Cano at second base in the very near future. The worst thing that could happen with calling Giménez up this season is starting the clock for his service time. Getting called up now instead of a season or two in the future will mean the Mets have one less season of control.

While Giménez may not be ready for big-league pitching, it is very exciting to see such a young talented player make his way up the Mets system. Giménez has been one of the Mets’ top prospects for at least three seasons now, and anytime a prospect of that pedigree makes the big leagues it is always interesting.

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Giménez’s promotion is one of the more perplexing moves made during Brodie’s tenure as GM. On paper, it doesn’t make much sense. But, nothing makes sense anymore in 2020, so let’s sit back and see what happens.