The Minnesota Twins grabbed Nick Gordon with the 5th overall pick during the 2014 MLB Draft. He played just 243 games in a Twins uniform, compiling a career fWAR of just 1.4 during his time with the organization. Last year, Derek Falvey shipped Gordon off to Miami, and he surfaced with the Baltimore Orioles this spring.

Nick Gordon joins Minnesota Twins rival Kansas City Royals

Gordon didn’t make the Opening Day roster for Baltimore (he went just 3-for-28 in Grapefruit League play) and was sent to Triple-A Norfolk. Kansas City came calling and decided to make a move that brings the former Minnesota Twins utility man back to the AL Central.

Trade: The Kansas City Royals are acquiring Nick Gordon from the Baltimore Orioles, sources say. Gordon, who was in Triple-A with the Orioles, has hit .244/.283/.386 with 23 home runs and 112 RBI in four major-league seasons.

— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) April 5, 2025

Last season Gordon played in 95 major league games for the Marlins. His .227/.258/.369 slash line was well below league average and was good for just a 68 OPS+. He never turned out to be a capable shortstop, which was the position he was drafted as, and has morphed into more of an Austin Martin-type utility man.

Just like big league Opening Day, the Triple-A season only just begun. In four games for Norfolk Gordon went 4-for-13 with a double and 4/1 K/BB. He also successfully stole a base on two attempts.

It remains to be seen how Gordon will be used by the Royals. Miami had him predominantly in left field last season. Unfortunately he was worth -6 DRS (defensive runs saved) and -2 OAA (outs above average) in that exposure. His arm is not a strength, and while outfield is where he has transitioned to, routes and ball tracking aren’t exactly ideal either.

Funny enough, Nick Gordon has an OPS of .831 against the #Royals in his career (35 games).

He also drove in 17 runs in those 35 games. It’s the most RBI against any team he’s faced. pic.twitter.com/8akDFd3vNh

— Jack Johnson (@JohnyJ_15) April 5, 2025

Kansas City didn’t need to put Gordon on their 40-man roster. Nick Loftin is the only infielder on the roster in the minors. Outfielder Dairon Blanco was placed on the injured list with an achilles ailment. Kyle Isbel, M.J. Melendez, and Hunter Renfroe are the only outfielders still on the active 26-man roster.

Not the first former Twins first round pick for Kansas City

Just before Opening Day in 2022, the Minnesota Twins traded Brent Rooker as part of a deal to acquire Chris Paddack and Emilio Pagan from the San Diego Padres. Rooker was a former first round pick (35th overall in 2017) by Minnesota.

He played just two games for the Padres before they sent him to Kansas City for Cam Gallagher. Things didn’t work out much better with the Royals. He played just 14 games and went 4-for-25 before being cast off.

Related: Twins Working on Another Top Pitching Prospect

That’s when Rooker landed with the Athletics, where he has since thrived, even becoming a first-time all-star in 2023. Last season, he batted .293/.365/.562 with 39 home runs en route to his first Silver Slugger award. This offseason, the Athletics gave Rooker a five-year, $60 million extension.

Gordon is a year younger than Rooker, but the likelihood he works out better for Kansas City is extremely low. Still, it would be nice to see Gordon generate reason for run back at the big league level. If not, he may be closing in on a full-time role as rapper Flash G (formerly G Cinco).

Orioles take a chance on former Minnesota Twins utility man

The top of the 2014 Major League Baseball Draft had some serious misses. The first overall pick, Brady Aiken, never signed with the Houston Astros. Tyler Kolek never made it past Single-A for Miami.

Carlos Rodon and Kyle Schwarber are the early darlings, but it was Nick Gordon that went to Minnesota at sixth overall. He’s now joining his third organization.

The Orioles have agreed to terms on a 2025 minor league contract with INF/OF Nick Gordon.

— Roch Kubatko (@masnRoch) December 31, 2024

Part of the allure for Gordon was that he grew up around baseball. The son of Tom “Flash” Gordon, and half-brother to Dee Strange-Gordon, there was plenty to like about the bloodlines. He was a speedy high school shortstop that had an enticing hit tool.

Gordon was a consensus top-100 prospect in multiple seasons for Minnesota, but he struggled to have that translate at the big league level. 2022 was his best season as Gordon slashed .272/.316/.427 (111 OPS+) with 28 doubles and nine home runs.

Nick Gordon's first @Marlins homer ties the game in the bottom of the 9th! pic.twitter.com/dgIi8dqSGa

— MLB (@MLB) March 31, 2024

He played in just 34 games during the 2023 season and was shipped to Miami before 2024 in exchange for left reliever Steven Okert. Minnesota found Gordon expendable after a bad year, and with Willi Castro in tow. They got next to nothing out of Okert, however.

Related: Homegrown Minnesota Twins Pitcher Lands Deal in Chicago

Last season Gordon played in 95 games for the Marlins. His .227/.258/.369 (68 OPS+) was a rebound from 2023, but still reflected significant struggles. He played all three outfield spots and second base, but is a below-average defender almost everywhere.

Related: Minnesota Twins Predicted to Land Bargain Bin Reliever

Gordon will provide the Orioles with utility depth at the Triple-A level. With previous big league experience, he is someone that Baltimore could call on. The former first round pick is now 29 years old.

Related: Twins TV Deal Official; Sides Move to Hide Terms of New Contract from Fans

Then, later in the day, the Twins agreed to trade Gordon to the Miami Marlins for left-handed relief pitcher Steven Okert. While he’s pitched for parts of six seasons in Miami, Okert is still a relatively unknown player. Let’s dive into what this trade means for the Twins, including why Gordon was viewed as expendable.

Nick Gordon Swap for Steven Okert Strengthens Twins Bullpen

On the surface, the Minnesota Twins are losing one of their most versatile players in Nick Gordon. He played all over the infield and outfield, but he also didn’t have an obvious role heading into 2024 with the Twins.

With several other younger players seeking playing time both in the infield and outfield, Gordon’s future in Minnesota was cloudy at best. In Miami, Gordon figures to receive a lot more at-bats, and he’ll also reunite with former fan favorite Luis Arraez.

As for the Twins? Steven Okert is a 32-year-old lefty reliever who will immediately grab a role in the team’s bullpen.

• Steven Okert’s MLB career stats: 194.1 IP, 3.70 ERA, 220 SO, 80 BB, 27 HR, 116 ERA+, 1.173 WHIP

Okert’s coming off a season where he had the best strikeout and walk rates of his MLB career. However, his home runs allowed rate did increase, so he’s far from a perfect player.

Now Okert joins Caleb Thielbar and Kody Funderburk as the other two left-handed relievers in the Twins’ bullpen, giving them more flexibility throughout the season. At a salary of $1.1 million, with three more years of team control, Okert should fit in nicely with his new team.

The Minnesota Twins desperately need help on both sides of the baseball right now and re-inserting Andrelton Simmons back at shortstop will surely help. Simba has been activated off of the COVID-19 list and will bat 8th tonight vs the Cleveland Indians. In return, Nick Gordon has been sent back down to AAA St. Paul. Gordon was up with the big club for three games but never saw the field or batters box while there.

Nick Gordon was optioned back to the team’s alternate site. #MNTwins

— danhayesmlb (@DanHayesMLB) April 26, 2021

Twins at Cleveland: pic.twitter.com/J68uxlNJGw

— Betsy Helfand (@betsyhelfand) April 26, 2021

He’s obviously known for his legendary glove but before Andrelton Simmons was taken out of the lineup, he was also swinging at a career-best level. Through 11 games, he was holding .355 batting average and .925 OPS and when he last graced the lineup on April 13, the Minnesota Twins were 5-5 and just on the start of what has turned into an epic April downfall.

Hopefully, he can help ignite an even more epic May turnaround.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

The time has come for a couple of Minnesota Twins prospects who fans have been long waiting for. With Miguel Sano being added to the injured list, Alex Kirilloff and Nick Gordon have finally received their first official MLB call-ups.

We’ve seen Kirilloff play two formal games in a Twins uniform but the first was in the playoffs and the last was out of doubleheader desperation. Falvine used a rule created by the pandemic which allows teams to call up a 27th player should they have to play two games in one day. Neither appearance counted against Alex’ MLB service time.

Quick break from coaching baseball… hear Nick Gordon is coming up to join the #MNTwins. Long road for him sees a cool happening this weekend for the former first rounder.

— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) April 22, 2021

Can confirm earlier reports. Alex Kirilloff will join the #MNTwins on Friday as Miguel Sanó is placed on the injured list (hamstring). Twins will also promote 2014 first-rounder Nick Gordon. H/t: @theothermegryan and @DWolfsonKSTP

— danhayesmlb (@DanHayesMLB) April 23, 2021

Nick Gordon

This call up has been a LONG time coming (7 years to be exact) for Nick Gordon, a former first round pick. Nick is the brother of long-time MLB player, Dee Gordon and many expected big things out of Flash Jr. But, they never materialized. Struggles with injuries, health and expectations lead to a much longer than anticipated minor league career.

But, now’s his chance to shine. If it means anything (it doesn’t), Gordon hit a homerun at CHS Field yesterday in a St Paul Saints scrimmage. The Twins (6-11) play the Pittsburgh Pirates (9-10) tonight at Target Field.

Nick Gordon’s MLB promotion for the #MNTwins will be just shy of 7 seasons in the minors.

The former 5th overall pick has played in 626 minor league games.

His last official at bat was August 2, 2019.

— Ted (@tlschwerz) April 23, 2021

FWIW, Kirilloff is playing first base for today’s @StPaulSaints “scrimmage.”

Oh! And Nick Gordon just went deep to straight away center field. pic.twitter.com/QhsqOiK3VG

— John Bonnes (@TwinsGeek) April 22, 2021

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Labor negotiations between Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association are a mess. Look no further than when I bitched about it in my previous post. Owners and players keep bickering about money instead of making it. Had they gotten their shit together early, they could be getting back to play right now. I could be writing about the start of the Minnesota Twins season right now…

There will be no ranting today, though! Instead of putting out another post about where negotiations are at, let us look at the positive side of things.

The two parties haven’t been able to agree on much, but have solidified the need for expanded rosters if play does return. And with that, a potential minor league taxi-squad that aims to aid teams with their depth, as the season wears on. 

Game day rosters will expand from 26 (which was agreed upon this year prior to the pandemic) to 30. The taxi-squads would hold up to 20 additional players, for a total of 50.

So, what is a taxi-squad you may ask?

Well, we don’t know exactly. There won’t be minor league baseball in 2020 (until Fall League) so the taxi-squad, in this situation, is the crop of players that you can draw from if you experience injuries or COVID-19 on your 30-man roster. These squads will likely change from team to team, with some valuing MLB-ready players vs developing prospects and vice versa. How it would all work is still a somewhat of a mystery…

Will the new 50-man roster have to include everyone on a team’s current 40-man roster? That could present some major issues… but that’s just the beginning of questions that are being asked. I thought Lindsey Adler of The Athletic said it best a couple of days ago:

Requiring teams to use their standard 40-man rosters would put many teams in a tough spot. Some of those spots are used to protect players in the lower levels of the minor leagues from eligibility for the Rule 5 draft. Tearing up the script to give teams more players to work with while also requiring them to have players who haven’t even seen Triple A on their taxi squad would be short-sighted, as would requiring them to take those less experienced players off the 40-man to accommodate a strange situation that should only be applicable to this season. What happens if someone gets injured and a player needs to be added to the taxi squad? Will there be a taxi squad for the taxi squad?

Lindsey Adler – The Athletic

What do the Minnesota Twins do?

The Twins have a roster that is versatile and deep, from top to bottom. We can expect Levine, Falvey and Baldelli to value players that can play multiple positions and contribute at the plate. They will also have to weigh player development vs a “win now” mentality. But that’s ok… because we have Derek and Thad. 

MY President (of baseball operations) pic.twitter.com/olQzlRrveC

— Carl (@PrimeKirilloff) May 29, 2020

Time to assemble the squad!

The 30-man roster is the easy part, for the Twins. You just throw all the guys who were on the 26-man roster bubble, during Spring Training, onto the expanded 30-man. Those bubble players include Lamonte Wade, Jr., Lewis Thorpe, Devin Smeltzer, and Jake Cave. 

The one wild card could be Rich Hill, who was initially doubtful to start the year, but has nearly recovered from his injury.

The Minnesota Twins are aided in this process by the strength of their farm system, which ranked 7^th earlier this year according to MLB.com. There are plenty of players the club could utilize for a unique 2020 season. Let’s look at who the members of this new taxi-squad could be:  

Catcher:

• Tomas Telis
• Ryan Jeffers

The two most solid options for depth and potential contributions at Catcher, come from Telis and Jeffers. Tomas is first in line for a callup, if something were to happen to Avila, Garver, or Astudillo.

Telis has yet to pan out as a legitimate major league backup option, behind the plate, and is approaching 30 years old. But he put together a solid 2019 with Rochester, batting .330 with an .854 OPS… 

Infield:

• Nick Gordon
• Travis Blankenhorn
• Wilfredo Tovar
• Zander Wiel

I don’t think there will be too much dissent on the Minnesota Twins taxi-squad infielders. The most likely call-ups, would be Gordon and Wiel. It’s been a long road for Gordon, who is yet to get any play in the majors, after being the Twins’ top draft choice in 2014. Tovar does have major league experience, however, so the Twins could use him instead, depending on the situation.

After a solid 2019 in Rochester, now might be the time to test whether Gordon can sink or swim in the big leagues, though. The same goes for Wiel, because he provides additional stability at first base, that I’m not sure Blankenhorn does.

I would have loved to put Royce Lewis in here, but after a choppy 2019, he still needs some time to develop and hone his game. Rumors are already swirling about an extended Minor League fall season, which might be the better option for Lewis.

Outfield:

• Brent Rooker
• Alex Kirilloff
• Trevor Larnach

Look at the young power in the Twins’ taxi squad outfield… Rooker, Kirilloff and Larnach have totalled 108 HR and 447 RBI in a combined 5~ish seasons (not including time injured).

The call-up order would go as it’s listed. Some might be surprised that Kirilloff is ahead of Larnach, but when looking at the totality of both players’ careers, Kiriloff takes the slight edge.

While Larnach had the bigger year in 2019 as Kirilloff battled injuries, (even at his best) he’s not Alex Kirilloff. Remember, Alex is just one season removed from posting 101 RBI, 20 HR and a .970 OPS in 2018. Both guys rake, though.

>>> https://t.co/TLPzWFGs1V pic.twitter.com/NdQdzMeXCG

— Carl (@PrimeKirilloff) May 30, 2020

Pitchers:

• Jhoulys Chacin
• Sean Poppen
• Fernando Romero
• Cory Gearrin
• Jake Reed
• Griffin Jax
• Jorge Alcala
• Sam Clay
• Bailey Ober
• Caleb Thielbar
• Danny Coulombe

This is where things get both interesting and difficult. The likes of Chacin, Poppen, Romero, and Gearrin are near locks to make this expanded Minnesota Twins roster. After that, it becomes a fine line between players who can stay sharp (despite minimal appearances) and players who need consistent time to continue developing.

I would have loved to place Jordan Balazovic on this list. He is the fifth-ranked minor league starter across the MiLB, according to MLB The Show 20 (video games are the real world, right?). Even with his real-life potential, I can’t see the Twins fiddling with his development or service time this year. 

Although unlikely, this could provide opportunity for Alcala and Jax to rise to the occasion. They could be emergency starters and/or help bolster a bullpen. The Twins will need both players on the 40-man and 26-man roster in 2020.

Looking Ahead:

While this is far from finalized (and completely hypothetical), the Twins have done an excellent job developing their young talent. This puts them in a great spot if we ever do get baseball this year. 

This mix of 50 players would give Baldelli plenty of options, especially at pitcher where top-end talent is lacking. It should also create minimal disparities between current players and those called up.

Let’s just get baseball started again! Assemble your own 50-man roster and let me know what you’d do differently.

via GIPHY

Jack Kewitsch | Minnesota Sports Fan

Next offseason, Joe Mauer and Ervin Santana’s (2019 team option) contracts will emulate a high school graduate who forgoes college. That’s a BIG financial monkey off of the back AND a lot of Pohlad pocket-change (combined $36.50 million in 2018) off of the books.

When Minnesota’s current offseason started as slow as it did, that information was regularly mixed into complaints regarding the organizations lack of spending.

Now, with fans no longer fiending for roster additions, conversations based around Mauer and Santana’s soon-to-expire deals are more of a rarity. In fact, on Monday, discussions surrounded a different Twin, that’s also in the final year of his contract:

Brian Dozier sounds willing to walk away from Twins after season, writes @SouhanStrib. https://t.co/ptjeStbI75 pic.twitter.com/7zbc2WEDWM

— Star Tribune Sports (@StribSports) March 5, 2018

With no agreement in place for 2019, 30 year-old Brian Dozier’s tenure in Minnesota could very well end, after this season. While speaking with the media, the second baseman conveyed that he and the Twins haven’t had “any talks about exploring an extension.“

Naturally, at his age, Dozier is interested in securing the bag a long-term deal. However, from the teams’ perspective, committing big dollars to the well-established, middle infielder might not make any sense.

Between Royce Lewis, Nick Gordon, and Wander Javier, three of Minnesota’s top five prospects are shortstops. On top of that, the ball-club’s reigning starter at that position, Jorge Polanco, is only 24 years-old. While none of them are currently listed at 2B, all four up-and-comers have the potential to change positions, if the situation calls for it.

via GIPHY

Dozier, the Mississippi native, has blasted a combined 76 HRs over the past two seasons. Those type of numbers from a second baseman are an anomaly. For now, that irregularity is a blessing. If you’re in the camp that feels Dozier needs to stay in the Land of 10K lakes, assuming he ends up hitting the open market, the moon-shots will become a curse.

That old supply and demand economic model is going to get your ass. Due to his unique power, the man who has been known to turn a broken bat into a makeshift duck-call has the potential to be the highest paid free agent second baseman since 2014 (Robinson Cano).

Brian Dozier’s Stats:

However things ultimately play out, “Brian with the Good Hair” has been an absolute bargain:

Brian Dozier has been worth more than $150 million to the Twins while being paid less than $20 million. But how much will he be worth in 2019 and beyond? https://t.co/HoGObpwsDD

— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) March 5, 2018

In conclusion, the purpose of this article was to simply plant the seed. As for what type of proverbial plant Dozier’s baseball future will become, that remains to be seen. From his personal performance, to whether Minnesota will be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline, and everything in-between; there are plenty of variables associated with this topic that are yet to be decided.

With that being said, don’t be surprised if future reports regarding Dozier’s future, are more all over the place than this state’s climate.

**walks into gas station**

Cashier: “How is it out there?”

Me: “It’s not good. We lost our last two games. This Jimmy Butler injury is brutal.”

Cashier: “I was talking about the weather and roads.”

Me: “Xavier Rhodes?!?”

— Johnny Minnesota (@TheJohnnyMN) March 6, 2018

Johnny Minnesota @TheJohnnyMN
Minnesota Sports Fan MinnesotaSportsFan.com