Pirates Acquire Spencer Horwitz From Guardians

CLEVELAND (AP) — The Cleveland Guardians pulled off two trades at the winter meetings, first sending three-time Gold Glove second baseman Andrés Giménez to the Toronto Blue Jays. Giménez, considered one of baseball’s best defensive middle infielders, was dealt by the Guardians along with reliever Nick Sandlin to Toronto for infielder Spencer Horwitz and outfielder Nick Mitchell. Cleveland then shipped Horwitz to the Pittsburgh Pirates for three pitchers: right-hander Luis Ortiz and lefties Michael Kennedy and Josh Hartle. Ortiz could slide immediately into a starting slot after going 7-6 with a 3.32 ERA last season.  The 27 year old Horwitz finished first among all qualified MLB rookies in on-base percentage, sixth in batting and eighth in slugging percentage while playing 97 games with Toronto last season.  He began the 2024 season with Triple-A Buffalo where he ranked second in the International League in on-base percentage and was tied for third in batting average (.335).