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The Marlins and Twins have agreed to a deal that can ship infielder/outfielder Nick Gordon to Miami, according to FanSided’s Robert Murray. Left-hander Steven Okert will head to Minnesota in return, the Miami Herald’s Craig Mish reports.
Gordon was the fifth general choose of the 2014 draft, and a high prospect for a lot of his time within the Twins’ farm system though his star started to dim resulting from accidents and struggles within the higher minors. With a profession .248/.298/.361 slash line over 829 profession Triple-A plate appearances, Gordon made his MLB debut in 2021 showing in 73 video games for the Twins, after which took on a bigger position with 443 PA over 136 video games in 2022. Gordon earned that further enjoying time by hitting .272/.316/.427 through the 2022 marketing campaign, and his capability to play a number of positions made him a very beneficial asset on a Minnesota workforce beset by accidents.
Sadly, the damage bug once more got here for Gordon himself final yr, as he fractured his proper shin after fouling a ball off himself on Might 17. This ended his MLB season after solely 34 video games. Gordon made it again for six Triple-A video games in September however wasn’t able to return to the lively roster earlier than the tip of the common season. He had been off to a troublesome begin even earlier than his damage, hitting solely .176/.185/.319 in 93 PA.
The commerce comes only a day after the outcomes of Gordon’s arbitration hearing, and the panel sided with the Twins by deciding on a $900K wage for Gordon in 2024, moderately than his desired determine of $1.25M. Gordon is heading into his age-28 season however remains to be arb-controlled by way of the 2027 marketing campaign as per his Tremendous Two standing.
Okert presents solely a bit much less management, as was arb-eligible for the primary of 3 times this winter and averted arbitration by agreeing with the Marlins on a $1,062,500 wage for the 2024 season.
It was somewhat over a yr in the past that the Twins and Marlins lined up on the blockbuster four-player swap that despatched Luis Arraez to Miami and Pablo Lopez to Minnesota. This transfer isn’t almost as high-profile, but it does mark the fifth transaction between the 2 franchises throughout the final 13 months, because the Twins’ consolation stage with Miami’s entrance workplace has continued even now that Peter Bendix has taken over from Kim Ng as the top of the Marlins’ baseball ops division.
Gordon has spent most of his time within the majors as a second baseman, middle fielder and proper fielder, with a handful of appearances at shortstop, third base and proper area. The general public defensive metrics haven’t been wowed by Gordon’s glovework at any of his positions, but his sheer versatility makes him an attention-grabbing asset on Miami’s roster. Gordon isn’t more likely to be reply to the Marlins’ needs at shortstop, although if Jon Berti finally ends up getting the majority of enjoying time at brief, Gordon may fill Berti’s outdated position because the chief utility possibility.
As Anthony Franco not too long ago noticed in a chunk for MLBTR’s Front Office subscribers, the Marlins entered the offseason with fairly a little bit of left-handed aid depth, between Okert, Tanner Scott, A.J. Puk, and Andrew Nardi. Scott didn’t appear more likely to be moved given his position as Miami’s projected nearer, and in contrast to Okert, Scott and Puk each have minor league choices remaining. Since Gordon can also be out of choices, this one-for-one swap helps each groups tackle some wants at the price of a probably expendable participant.
A veteran of six MLB seasons with the Giants and Marlins, Okert posted a 2.89 ERA over 87 1/3 aid innings for Miami in 2021-22, with the help of a .224 BABIP. Some course correction arrived in 2023, as Okert had a .295 BABIP and a 4.45 ERA over 58 2/3 frames, and a reasonably blended bag of peripherals. Okert’s strikeout and hard-hit ball charges had been each nicely above common, however his stroll and barrel charges had been each beneath the league common. The 32-year-old Okert can also be an excessive fly ball pitcher, so his effectiveness has tended to hinge on how nicely he fares at retaining the ball within the park.
On the plus aspect, Okert has good numbers towards each left-handed and right-handed batters, and he has been a workhorse with 124 appearances over the past two seasons. He’ll now be part of Caleb Thielbar as the highest southpaw choices in Minnesota’s very stable aid corps, and rookie Kody Funderburk offers one other attention-grabbing left-handed arm who may very well be shuttled backwards and forwards from Triple-A as circumstances dictate.
Between payroll cuts and considerations over their TV contract, the Twins’ offseason has solely began to kick into excessive gear over the past couple of weeks. Minnesota has now dealt each Jorge Polanco and Gordon in an effort to improve its pitching depth on the expense of a considerably crowded group of place gamers, notably throughout the infield. Even with out Gordon, Willi Castro and Kyle Farmer can choose up the utilityman slack on the Twins’ roster, and high prospects Austin Martin and Brooks Lee are each anticipated to make their MLB debuts in 2024.
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