Just like the top two New York Mets prospects, Andres Gimenez was an international signing back in 2015. He agreed to a $1.2 million dollar signing bonus and is the number three ranked prospect in the Mets farm system.
Born in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, Gimenez has played in 393 minor league games and is a lifetime .278 hitter. He is currently on the Mets 60-man player pool roster and made the Mets opening day roster in 2020.
General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen had this to say on his star prospect. “He’s a really talented guy. He’s young, and he has so much potential for a guy that age to come into major league camp and be able to play at this level, was pretty impressive. Defensively, he learned as camp went on the speed of the major league level, and can take that experience down with him to the minor league. And as he matures physically, we expect the bat to play.”
Strengths
There aren’t too many areas that Gimenez does not excel in. Despite being 6’0″ and only 181 pounds, the shortstop hits for both contact and has some surprising power. Gimenez has a short and quick swing and can spray the ball to all areas of the field. His swing also allows him not to be overpowered by a heavy fastball and likes to swing early in at-bats.
Gimenez also is a plus defender with slick footwork and both a powerful and accurate arm. He has tremendous speed on the base bath and could turn into a player that can steal 25-30 bases in a season.
Weakness
One of the only areas that Gimenez needs to work on is being selective. While he likes to swing early in the count, he does not draw many walks. Like Amed Rosario, he has too much speed to have that low of a career on-base percentage.
Also, if he can gain a little more muscle, he can be more of a power hitter. Gimenez also plays a position of shortstop where the Mets have tremendous depth at. Rosario has grown into a solid player, and Ronny Mauricio is likely to fly up through the minor leagues. It may force Gimenez to move to second base where he is not as familiar with.
Minor League Career
Gimenez had his best overall season in 2018. He played for both the St. Lucie Mets as well as the Binghamton Rumble Ponies and batted .281. Gimenez hit six home runs, which was three less of his total in 2019. He also managed to drive in 48 runs from the top of the batting order and swiped 38 bases in 52 attempts.
He has scored at least 50 runs in all three seasons and has a .968 fielding percentage. Gimenez also participated in the Arizona Fall league in 2019 and hit .371 in 18 games.
MLB Comparison
While he has a lot to accomplish before he can get on Francisco Lindor’s level, both players can hit. They can hit for contact, and Gimenez could reach the power that Lindor has and are each are great defenders with similar swings. Both Gimenez and Lindor’s minor league numbers are very similar to this point. Lindor only hit 23 minor league home runs but has already hit 130 in his five year MLB career so far. If Gimenez can resemble just a bit of Lindor, the Mets will have a legit star on their hands.
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