Mets: Andres Gimenez hasn’t made Amed Rosario expendable quite yet

New York Mets Andres Gimenez may win the shortstop job from Amed Rosario this year but the former hasn’t made the latter expendable.

I bought into the Andres Gimenez hype as much as anyone else. I was never the biggest fan of Amed Rosario but acknowledged it may take a little more grooming before we can pass full judgment on his abilities. Whatever I believe doesn’t matter much in the grand scheme of things. It’s what the New York Mets front office wants that will ultimately affect who plays shortstop on Opening Day 2021.

One of the surprising battles of 2020 has been the one between Gimenez and Rosario for playing time at shortstop. When we knew the season would be shortened to 60 games, I didn’t think we’d even get a chance to see Gimenez. He has now played almost as much as Rosario, further fueling the debate about the future of each.

As good as Gimenez has been in some areas, such as speed and on defense, he hasn’t been awesome enough for the Mets to move on from Rosario entirely. I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of a trade this offseason. I would just advise against it.

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Gimenez has hit well but has very little pop in his bat. If capable of playing elite-level defense, I think we can excuse it.

Best-case scenario, the Mets may find Gimenez becomes Rey Ordonez with a better bat. At worst, maybe he’s something closer to many of the other shortstops who cycled through this organization.

Finding a shortstop has never been easy for the Mets franchise. Outside of Jose Reyes, none have ever been superb hitters outside of a few single seasons. He is by far the greatest shortstop in franchise history. The team has had trouble replacing him over the last decade.

Rosario could be capable of putting up better numbers than we’re used to seeing from Mets shortstops. He flashed signs of it in the second half of 2019. This year, his weaknesses have shown both at the plate and in the field.

Rosario is still young but Gimenez is younger and outplaying him this year. I don’t think anything anyone does in this whacky shortened season should weigh too heavily on any major decision. This includes the good and the bad.

Gimenez is a much different player than Rosario. He appears to be a better base stealer, taking the throne away from Rosario as the lone threat the club had on the bases. Depending on what the club wants at the shortstop position could determine which of these two the Mets prefer for the bulk of the starts.

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There’s no immediate decision the team needs to make in regard to this pair of young infielders. They are perfectly capable of carrying both with them into the 2021 season and letting them fight it out on a regular basis. Depth is never something worth whining about. This is especially true when you’re still not sure what the ceiling for both players look like.