Marlins acquire Nick Gordon from Minnesota Twins

[Kevin Barral]

The Marlins didn't wait for "the big game" to kick off on Super Bowl Sunday, swinging a trade with the Twins in the early afternoon for the versatile Gordon.

On Sunday, the Miami Marlins struck a deal acquiring utility man Nick Gordon from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for reliever Steven Okert. Craig Mish of SportsGird was first with the full trade details. The trade is now official.

Gordon was originally the fifth pick in the 2014 MLB Draft and didn't make his debut until 2021. His best season came in 2022 when he played 136 games and slashed .272/.316/.427/.743 with nine home runs, 30 RBIs and a 111 OPS+.

In 2023, Gordon struggled in his limited 34-game sample before suffering a leg injury. On the bright side, he cut his strikeout rate in half, from 23.7% to 11.8%.

Although there are questions about where Gordon will play, he has spent most of his major league career in the outfield (92 games in CF and 85 games in LF). He can also play second base and shortstop. Shortstop is still a spot that needs to be filled for the Marlins this season.

Gordon will earn a salary of $900k this season after losing his arbitration case. He is under club control through 2027 and has no more minor league options.

Gordon is the half-brother of former Marlins second baseman Dee Strange-Gordon, who spent three seasons with the team and was an All-Star, Gold Glove winner and batting champ.

As for who the Marlins are giving away, Steven Okert joined the organization in 2021 when he signed a minor league deal with the team. Since then, Okert has provided the Marlins with two-and-a-half strong years in the organization. Okert's best season came in 2022, posting a 2.98 ERA, 4.36 FIP, 11.05 K/9 and 4.56 BB/9 through 51 ⅓ innings pitched.

Although Okert had success in that 2022 season, his high FIP and walk rate made his success seem unsustainable and that proved to be the case. Okert got off to a good start in 2023 as he did lower the walk rate and FIP, but his ERA went up and he was giving up more contact.

The Twins have the chance to get one of the better relievers in the National League from the first half of the season who posted a 2.53 ERA in 32 innings pitched and who lowered his walk rate. For Miami, they were able to trade what was originally a depth signing for a cheap, versatile hitter with nice upside. Be sure to check our on sister site, Twins Daily, for reaction to this trade from the Twins' perspective.

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[Brock Beauchamp]

Nick Gordon seems like a legitimately good dude and is quite popular with Twins fans. He also has terrible luck. He was struck with long covid, finally bounced back in 2022, and then had a train wreck of a 2023. If healthy, he can be quite good with the bat despite his small frame. I like this deal for both Gordon and the Marlins. 

[One Regend]

I made this post in another topic, but decided that here was the better thread for it.

Nick Gordon is... okay, I guess. He's one year removed from a decent season in 2022 (111 wRC+), showing surprising pop for a guy at his stature, and he's a capable defender in CF, though his arm leaves a bit to be desired. The thing I'm most concerned about is that he only walked once in 93 PA last year. That can't fly at the MLB level and that needs to change if he's going to stick in the lineup.

You could plug him as a second baseman, but Luis Arraez is there, and when Arraez is traded, Xavier Edwards is there too.

I'm just surprised they got anything out of Okert. He was a walking ticking time bomb last year.

It says something about how empty the offseason has been, when the best transaction the Marlins have made is one I have a lukewarm reception to.

[Ely Sussman]

26 minutes ago, One Regend said:

I made this post in another topic, but decided that here was the better thread for it.

Nick Gordon is... okay, I guess. He's one year removed from a decent season in 2022 (111 wRC+), showing surprising pop for a guy at his stature, and he's a capable defender in CF, though his arm leaves a bit to be desired. The thing I'm most concerned about is that he only walked once in 93 PA last year. That can't fly at the MLB level and that needs to change if he's going to stick in the lineup.

You could plug him as a second baseman, but Luis Arraez is there, and when Arraez is traded, Xavier Edwards is there too.

I'm just surprised they got anything out of Okert. He was a walking ticking time bomb last year.

It says something about how empty the offseason has been, when the best transaction the Marlins have made is one I have a lukewarm reception to.

Awkward fit from the standpoint that he has ugly platoon splits like Jazz and Sánchez. I have to assume they acquired him with a plan to use him occasionally at 2B/SS too.

[Stanley J Makowski]

We finally got a player who can hit his weight. Then again, he doesn't weigh that much.

I've been very critical of every FO move this off season. Primarily because publicity is so important regarding public opinion. Millions are spent to influence political opinion, yet this FO has done absolutely nothing to add team interest to the average fan. In fact, the opposite effect seems to be happening. 

I'm going to call out two major "IFs" that could greatly influence this year's performance and just might be within the club's plans.

!) IF our young infielder, Edwards, has improved his arm strength to the extent that he could be our regular short fielder, it would be a tremendous boon to seeing more men on the basepaths, especially men with speed. Seeing him lead off in front of Arraex would be a huge improvement over the top of our order last year. Our new manager did a marvelous job last year, especially with team morale. However, he did not utilize the speed of his essentially young team. I hope that will change. I also think that hitting Soler second was a horrible mistake. A player with that many HRs should have had more than 75 RBIs, or only 6 more than our leadoff hitter.

2) IF the FO has not acquired a substantial RH relief pitcher because they are counting on Meyer to fill that role, then these nobodies that have been recently featured are of little relevance. I am going to commit heresy here and say that in my opinion, relief pitchers are more important to this team than the starters. I think that fantastic winning percentage in one run wins proves my point.

Should these two daydreams come to fruition, this team will compete on a much higher level than by procuring some middle of the road power hitter with his multiple Ks tagging along.

Lastly, dumping Burdick was addition by subtraction. 

[Slacker Mills]

I had no idea that Okert had no trade value whatsoever.

[Ely Sussman]

2 hours ago, Slacker Mills said:

I had no idea that Okert had no trade value whatsoever.

It was fair to wonder in November whether he could potentially be non-tendered, but Baseball Trade Values placed his surplus value at $3.5M. I would definitely take the under on that.

[Brock Beauchamp]

4 hours ago, Slacker Mills said:

I had no idea that Okert had no trade value whatsoever.

Twins fans felt the same about Gordon, which is why this trade makes sense for everybody.

[MRDHU75]

Good points made by all.
I personally would like to see him be the SS
I just can't see 34 year old Berti being out there on a regular, especially when he is so good as a super sub

So many SS options with Bride, Brujan, Gordon, Edwards and Amaya, yet the club keeps making moves.

 

[MarlinzDude86]

I'm a fan of the trade. Plenty of depth in the 'pen already and we're adding a contact hitter with a lot of upside. Still wish we had some power to replace Soler though. DLC and Jazz BOTH need 20-25 HR to make up the difference in my opinion. I'm hoping Gordon can get on base with Arraez to boost the RBI numbers.