Marlins Acquire Leo Jimenez

The Marlins are set to acquire infielder Leo Jimenez in a trade with the Blue Jays, according to Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith.  Francys Romero reports that the Jays will receive minor league infielder Dub Gleed and $250K in international bonus pool money in return.  Miami’s 40-man roster is full, so some sort of corresponding move will have to be create room for Jimenez before the trade is officially announced.

Jimenez is out of minor league options, so the Jays had to designate the infielder for assignment when he wasn’t included on the Opening Day roster.  It didn’t seem likely that Jimenez was going to sneak through waivers and remain with the Blue Jays via an outright assignment, and the Marlins indeed stepped up with a trade offer to bring the 24-year-old into their organization.

Making his MLB debut in 2024, Jimenez posted a respectable 101 wRC+ over his first 210 plate appearances, hitting .229/.329/.358 with four home runs.  Bo Bichette‘s injury woes that season opened the door for Jimenez to receive a good chunk of playing time, but with Bichette back in 2025 and other players (i.e. Andres Gimenez, Ernie Clement, Addison Barger) all becoming bigger parts of the infield picture, Jimenez became the odd man out.

Injuries also didn’t help Jimenez’s case, as he played in only 44 total games between the majors and minors in 2025.  Over 18 games with the Blue Jays, Jimenez had just a .301 OPS to show for 32 trips to the plate, though he hit better in the minors.  Jimenez has a .260/.404/.380 slash line and seven homers over 374 career PA at the Triple-A level.

While it seems like power will never be a big part of Jimenez’s game, his ability to collect hits and draw walks against big league pitching will determine whether or not he can be a regular in the majors.  Defensively, there seems to be little question that Jimenez’s glove is ready for primetime, whether as a shortstop or as a second baseman.  Jimenez’s arm strength has been seen as a potential barrier to sticking at shortstop, and the Jays used him more regularly at second base over the last couple of years, though that could’ve been more due to Bichette’s presence at shortstop.

Jimenez now gets a fresh start on a new team, playing behind Xavier Edwards at second base and Otto Lopez at shortstop.  Miami’s incumbent middle infield duo are both strong defenders and good speed threats, though both Edwards (95 wRC+) and Lopez (86 wRC+) had subpar offensive numbers overall.  There’s room for Jimenez to potentially earn himself some playing time, though for now he’ll join a position-player mix that has been depleted by IL stints for Christopher Morel and Kyle Stowers.

Miami already signed Austin Slater to help fill in for Stowers in the outfield, and now Jimenez will bolster the infield depth chart.  With Morel out, the Marlins have used Connor Norby and newly-recalled Deyvison De Los Santos at first base, with Graham Pauley and super-utilityman Javier Sanoja at third base.  The Fish are expected to mix and match at least until Stowers is back in a few weeks’ time, giving Jimenez some opportunity to play in the field as others are rotated into the DH spot.

The 23-year-old Gleed was a ninth-round pick for the Marlins in the 2024 draft, and his first season of pro ball saw Gleed make it all the way to Triple-A, albeit for just one game.  Gleed hit .252/.391/.347 over 275 plate appearances at four different Marlins affiliates, with most of his playing time coming at the A-ball and Double-A levels.  Gleed primarily split time between the two corner infield positions, and also appeared in a game apiece as a second basema and as a catcher.