Blue Jays’ Andres Gimenez has some big shoes to fill this upcoming season originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Toronto Blue Jays were one of the most aggressive teams over the bulk of the offseason. They made a ton of moves that should help improve this team’s chances of being contenders once again in 2026.

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However, with all those additions, you cannot overlook the loss of Bo Bichette. While his glove has taken a hit over the years, he has remained one of the best-hitting shortstops around the league.

Now, the slugger will be suiting up for the New York Mets. He and the club agreed on a three-year, $126 million deal.

MORE: Blue Jays predicted to trade for $3 million All-Star lefty ace to balance righty-dominant lineup, compensate for missing out on Kyle Tucker

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Blue Jays’ andres Gimenez has some big shoes to fill this upcoming season

Whether the Blue Jays retained Bichette or not, it was looking like Andres Gimenez would be the club’s starting shortstop moving forward. He has an excellent glove and has a ton of range to get some balls that other infielders would not be able to get a glove on.

However, it is his bat that he needs to make an improvement. He is coming off a season where he hit .210/.285/.313 with seven home runs and 35 runs batted in. That is nothing compared to what Bichette did with the bat in his hands last season.

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So, MLB.com’s Thomas Harrigan puts the pressure on Gimenez to get the bat going this year.

“Due to his superior glove, Gimenez likely would have become the Blue Jays’ new starting shortstop whether Bo Bichette returned or not. That said, Bichette’s departure has made Gimenez’s bat more important. While the addition of third baseman Kazuma Okamoto should help mitigate the loss of Bichette, Toronto also needs Gimenez to improve his offensive performance after producing just a 70 wRC+ in 2025.”

Gimenez does not have to have a career-year offensively; he just needs to piece together a few more hits, preferably with runners on base. If he can do that, he could put Toronto in a great position to fight for a division title once again.

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