Fresh Off Signing A Seven-Year Extension, Andres Gimenez Showing Why The Guardians Wanted To Keep Him Around

Andres Gimenez shined the brightest in game three of the Cleveland Guardians opening series against the Seattle Mariners. But there was a lot of reason to cheer for Gimenez before the season even started as the Guardians decided to make them their second baseman of the future.

The Guardians didn't decide to extend Gimenez purely based on what he could do on offense or defense. They extended him because of what he can do simultaneously on both sides and he showed that off on Saturday night.

Gimenez flashed leather and power leading thing Guardians to a 2-0 victory over the Mariners.

The first play he made was a tremendous stop on a ground ball that turned into a double play for the Guardians.

He was actually using his backup glove during this play because his primary mitt had the strings come undone just a few plays beforehand as he was trying to apply a tag.

After the game, he joked that "(The first one) is my favorite glove ... I changed the glove and I made that play, so I don't know what's going on with this glove."

The very next frame is when Gimenez stepped into the box and blasted a solo home run to extend Cleveland's lead 2-0. This brings his batting average up to .300 and a 1.017 OPS just three games into the season

Andrés Giménez extends the @CleGuardians lead! pic.twitter.com/rJaU3Jz3Ih
— MLB (@MLB) April 2, 2023

All of this comes just days after the All-Star second baseman signed a seven-year contract extension that will keep him in Cleveland through the 2030 season.

From the defense to the offense, these few games have been a microcosm as to why the Guardians wanted to keep Gimenez around long-term. MLB is full of defensive specialists who struggle on offense, and Gold Glovers who can't hit, but it's not common that a player can do both as well as Gimenez.

That's someone worth keeping around.

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