Legit Trade Candidate: Dee Gordon

The Dodgers are shopping him and I think the Twins should be interested:

Pros:
-Fast as ****! Over a full season this kid can swipe as many as 60 bags, the Twins aren't a running team, but with Revere+Hicks+Gordon in a lineup they could change that.
-Potential Long term solution- Under team control until 2018, so in addition to helping the team out now, he could be a long term fit.
-He wouldn't cost an arm and a leg- He is coming off a rather poor season, so the Dodgers won't be able to ask nearly as much as the Indians are for Cabrera for example.
-Was only a year removed from being the #26 prospect in all of baseball
-He proved he could hit in the minors, in 2011 he put up a .783 OPS in AAA and has an overall .742 OPS in the minors. He doesn't have any power, and his offensive game may remind you of Revere, but you can live with Revere like production from a SS, much harder to swallow in the OF
- Has potential to be very good defensively even though he hasn't shown it.

Cons:
-I recall him having some attitude/maturity issues last year with Dodger management.
-He hit poorly in 2012. Very poorly.
-His UZR was terrible as he struggled defensively.
-There could be several teams interested in him.


Summary: The Twins as we know are a disaster in the MI for now and most likely the future as all the in house candidates have large question marks one way or another (Dozier- Can he even hit?, Rosario- Will he stick at 2B? Levi- Still far away)

Gordon has all the potential in the world but hasn't put it together yet, he is a perfect " buy low" candidate and shouldn't cost a whole lot at this point. I wouldn't trade any of the Twins top 8 prospects, but would give up any of the 9-15 type guys, or even a couple of 15-25 guys to bring him in.

Thoughts?
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Better than any option they currently have, and would not cost much. I vote yes.

His father would be the second best pitcher on our staff.

He might be fast, but when your manager refuses to call the steal, I'm not sure what advantage it brings. I'm for it if it's cheap, as he'd be an upgrade in the middle assuming is defense is as good as his speed.

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Originally Posted by diehardtwinsfan

He might be fast, but when your manager refuses to call the steal, I'm not sure what advantage it brings. I'm for it if it's cheap, as he'd be an upgrade in the middle assuming is defense is as good as his speed.

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He has struggled defensively in the majors, but from the scouting report I read he should be able to be a pretty good SS defensively. Again he isn't a sure thing, but the potential is there and the asking price shouldn't be to high. Do the Dodgers need RP help? Maybe Burton could be included or something as well?

I'm not sure so Gardy is adverse to stealing bases, Revere had 40 in 120 games last year, and Alexi had 21 in like 100 games. The Twins just didn't have a lot to work with as the other "speedster" Span seemed to get picked off quite a bit. Gardy used to send Mauer and Cuddyer every once in a while back in the day as well.

I think certain players have a green light against pitchers that are timing slow. The players then go when they get a decent lead and feel for pitcher.

Dee Gordon would be like Revere... Green light to go until he gets nailed more often than preferable.

I love Speed... I'm all for it with the hope that we don't gut our future to get him.

I've seen a lot of Dodger games...Dee Gordon, weak bat, not very good defensively, way too many errors on routine plays but will make a great play once in a while..very fast but this kid is really skinny

Doesn't sound like he'll be as cheap as hoped.

From Ken Rosenthal: https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/st...22380108775424
Source: #Dodgers only will trade Dee Gordon for significant return. Still view him as young player with big upside, stolen-base potential.

thats just posturing. There seems to be several SS candidates on the trade market right now. I hope we get one.

I'd be ok with giving up someone like Harrison for him but not much more than that. And that assumes the FO likes Gordon.

There's an article written about 30 years ago by Bill James entitled 'So What's All The Fuss' It talks about the actual value of the stolen base. Talks about how stolen bases are pretty over-rated. I highly recommend the reading.

I just don't see the Twins landing him. Look into it, but don't get too serious. There are question marks about his bat and his glove. I'm sure the glove will come with given time, but I seriously wonder if he has the ability to get on base.

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Originally Posted by gunnarthor

I'd be ok with giving up someone like Harrison for him but not much more than that. And that assumes the FO likes Gordon.

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Yeah that is what I was thinking. Someone around #10-#12 in the system. Or a couple guys in the lower teens/twenties range.

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Originally Posted by rickyriolo

I've seen a lot of Dodger games...Dee Gordon, weak bat, not very good defensively, way too many errors on routine plays but will make a great play once in a while..very fast but this kid is really skinny

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Sounds exactly in line with the stats I see for him on baseball-reference.com. His range factor looks about average, he makes more than his share of errors (not that that's a prime metric for a middle infielder) and his bat should be more of an asset by age 24 than it is. If, as another poster states, the Dodgers are posturing that they want a prospect-not-a-suspect in return, I'm not interested.

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Originally Posted by YourHouseIsMyHouse

There are question marks about his bat and his glove.

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Picky, picky, picky. -- Pat Paulsen

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Originally Posted by ashburyjohn

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Originally Posted by rickyriolo

I've seen a lot of Dodger games...Dee Gordon, weak bat, not very good defensively, way too many errors on routine plays but will make a great play once in a while..very fast but this kid is really skinny

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Sounds exactly in line with the stats I see for him on baseball-reference.com. His range factor looks about average, he makes more than his share of errors (not that that's a prime metric for a middle infielder) and his bat should be more of an asset by age 24 than it is. If, as another poster states, the Dodgers are posturing that they want a prospect-not-a-suspect in return, I'm not interested.

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The Dodgers can think and say whatever they want, nobody is giving up anything close to a top 100 prospect back for this guy at this point. The whole point about getting Gordon would be buying low on a kid that still has potential.

He did have a .302 in his cup of coffee in 2011 and hit .302 in the minors, so he has shown in the past that he can get on base. Though hoping for anything more then a .700 OPS would be wishful thinking, however, he has speed, and tons of team control if he gets it together.

I'd also be willing to trade for Jed Lowrie if he is truly on the block.

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Originally Posted by SpiritofVodkaDave

He did have a .302 in his cup of coffee in 2011 and hit .302 in the minors, so he has shown in the past that he can get on base. Though hoping for anything more then a .700 OPS would be wishful thinking, however, he has speed, and tons of team control if he gets it together.

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Sounds like Revere with less defensive ability. Do we need more table-setters on offense? I grant that any realistic SS/2B will be a table-setter, but does Gordon bring significantly more than what we already have in, say, the Florimonster?

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Originally Posted by ashburyjohn

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Originally Posted by SpiritofVodkaDave

He did have a .302 in his cup of coffee in 2011 and hit .302 in the minors, so he has shown in the past that he can get on base. Though hoping for anything more then a .700 OPS would be wishful thinking, however, he has speed, and tons of team control if he gets it together.

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Sounds like Revere with less defensive ability. Do we need more table-setters on offense? I grant that any realistic SS/2B will be a table-setter, but does Gordon bring significantly more than what we already have in, say, the Florimonster?

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I think Gordon has significantly more upside then a guy like Florimon, who personally I don't think should ever be counted on as a starter at the major league level.

You can survive with Revere type production out of SS/2B, and his speed is truly an asset. He is just raw, which maybe isn't the best fit seeing as our record with "raw" MI hasn't worked out to well in the past.

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Originally Posted by SpiritofVodkaDave

You can survive with Revere type production out of SS/2B

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The production stats already factor in his speed to an extent (the OPS would be lower with the triples as doubles, some of the doubles as singles, and a handful of the singles as outs), his SB/CS isn't quite as favorable as Revere's, and I'm not convinced his other baserunning is that much of an advantage over someone like Florimon - he should not be compared to Willingham on the basepaths to gauge his value.

Morover, if we were to trade even a non-top-ten prospect, I would hope for more than someone we can "survive" with.

I really think the Dodgers have concluded that Gordon's value will decline to the point he's waiver-wire fodder in couple of years, and are trying to salvage anything better than that now.

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Originally Posted by ashburyjohn

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Originally Posted by SpiritofVodkaDave

You can survive with Revere type production out of SS/2B

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The production stats already factor in his speed to an extent (the OPS would be lower with the triples as doubles, some of the doubles as singles, and a handful of the singles as outs), his SB/CS isn't quite as favorable as Revere's, and I'm not convinced his other baserunning is that much of an advantage over someone like Florimon - he should not be compared to Willingham on the basepaths to gauge his value.

Morover, if we were to trade even a non-top-ten prospect, I would hope for more than someone we can "survive" with.

I really think the Dodgers have concluded that Gordon's value will decline to the point he's waiver-wire fodder in couple of years, and are trying to salvage anything better than that now.

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Or maybe that Hanley Ramirez is simply better? I doubt they have any inclination to waste that investment.