Nick Gordon's Potential Return Could Force Difficult Roster Choices

[Doctor Gast]

Best case scenario IMO is that Gordon comes back at '22  form with all the fire coming from the team. Then trade him this off season. Worst case scenario is he has a poor showing & is played in the INF too much again.

[dxpavelka]

20 hours ago, stringer bell said:

I think that if they can push a Nick Gordon decision to the off-season they will. If he is on rehab on the 12th, the 20 days wouldn't expire until the regular season is over. At that point, I presume he could be on the major league roster, but not on the active post-season roster. The same goes for Chris Paddack and perhaps Brock Stewart although I think Stewart is on the active roster if he's healthy and has shaken off the rust.

I see where you're coming from but the # 1 objective here is to win in the post-season.  Pushing decisions off beyond that might not help with that.  If he's a better option than somebody currently on the roster (Stevenson?) ya make the move.

[saviking]

Figuring out how to get Gordon on the team in September is easy. But post-season is damn near impossible. If Gordon batted right handed it would be a piece of cake. 

[jmlease1]

From a Twins perspective, the best case is for Gordon to not finish a rehab assignment in time to make the postseason roster and remain on the 60-day injured list, because there really isn't room for him on this roster, but they'd rather not lose him for nothing...which they will if he's DFA'd. He had a good enough season in 2022 that someone would take a flier on him bouncing back, especially since his injury this season was fluky and he was showing some peripherals that suggested he was pretty unlucky in his early season struggles.

From a Nick Gordon's career perspective, he should want to get healthy ASAP and force a decision, even a DFA. Because he's better off moving to a new organization immediately and letting them get to know him and showing what he might be capable of now rather than trying to get a trade done in the off-season or having to battle for the last roster spot knowing that the Twins essentially see him as an OF at this point. (He's behind a LOT of people at 2B, and would only play SS or 3B in a dire emergency)

I like Nick Gordon, seems like a good dude and he's overcome a lot to get himself to MLB. And the Twins have stayed patient, given him chances, and done a lot of work to get him healthy. But the reality there's no real room for him on this roster. Castro has more positional flexibility and shown more ability to get value out of his speed. Julien is a significantly better hitter. Polanco has more positional flexibility (Twins are much happier to slot Polo in at 3B than Gordon if needed), is a former all-star, has been consistently a better hitter, and is a switch-hitter to boot. Lewis also has more positional flexibility, better speed and defense, and seized his opportunity with both hands. Lee is one of the top prospects in baseball. Twins never loved him in the infield anyways, he's not a great defender there, and there's no room. (Miranda faces this problem too)

OF? well, He doesn't have the power production or profile of Wallner, and Kepler is here until he's not. As an OF, Gordon has the same problem as Larnach: behind other LH hitters. He can play CF...but he's not great at it. Austin Martin has been rising again now that he's healthy...where's the spot for Gordon? Especially when he struggled mightily to produce early this season when he was healthy.

I don't see room for him this year...and if he makes it to the off-season with the club he's going to need a great spring training to find a space on the next year's roster with how well Castro has done as a super-utility guy, the number of OF the Twins have in the system, and the Twins decision to carry 13 pitchers and only 13 position players.

[JD-TWINS]

21 hours ago, old nurse said:

Gordon hasn’t even been sent on a rehab assignment so at this point it is much ado about nothing. True there still is enough time to get in a rehab assignment. There is not enough time to get him a rehab assignment and enough time to get him adjusted to mlb. He is not that good of a player. Not a bad player, either. A rehab assignment is inn order as a disaster plan. Depending on what you think you might need. One more CF going down is about the only scenario. Larnach can cover the other OF positions. 

Seems he starts a re-hab any day after Tuesday and the timing extends past the end of regular season……no big deal. If he plays a dozen games and hits .400 - maybe some thought needs to be given to him. Don’t see Gordon clouding any decisions this fall.

Honestly, I’m pretty sure Gallo would be ahead of Larnach on the playoff roster due to continuity & flexibility on D.

[stringer bell]

1 hour ago, dxpavelka said:

I see where you're coming from but the # 1 objective here is to win in the post-season.  Pushing decisions off beyond that might not help with that.  If he's a better option than somebody currently on the roster (Stevenson?) ya make the move.

Is he a better option than Stevenson as a pinch runner and defensive replacement? I honestly don't think so. I certainly don't see him as a better option than Willi Castro, so I think that if the Twins can push his rehab beyond the regular season and he's an extra guy in case of injury, that would be best for the team.

The team is mentioning three players as possibilities to be activated off the 60-day IL--Stewart, Paddack, and Gordon--all three upon completing their rehab stints would have to take a 40-man roster spot as well. I don't believe Alcalá was ever officially placed on the 60-day list, but he's also rehabbing with an eye toward being activated. Finding guys to move in order to have room for one, two or maybe three guys on the 40-man roster might be a problem. One solution would be to put Buxton on the 60-day list and I wouldn't be surprised if that happens eventually. Another solution would be to DFA Gallo or Luplow, but I think Luplow has a place on a postseason roster in the mind of the front office.

[Jeff K]

23 hours ago, umterp23 said:

Gordon coming off this type of injury is not needed this year, no reason to put him on active roster at all.  

I can't imagine that Gordon is in the Twins plans for this season.  I should think that he needs 3 weeks minimum and the guys on the team (Castro) have earned their keep.

[Fire Dan Gladden]

22 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

DFA Gallo.

All things being equal, Gallo brings a different skill set than Gordon.  A Gordon-for-Gallo swap makes less sense than some of the other moves mentioned in the article.

[terrydactyls]

2 hours ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

All things being equal, Gallo brings a different skill set than Gordon.  A Gordon-for-Gallo swap makes less sense than some of the other moves mentioned in the article.

Yeah.  I guess you never can have too many guys on your roster that have batted .166 over the past four years.

[Linus]

Well Wallner is slumping and Gallo stinks. So if I need someone to play left field Gordon may end up being an option. You would at least plan for that contingency. 

[dxpavelka]

12 hours ago, stringer bell said:

Is he a better option than Stevenson as a pinch runner and defensive replacement? I honestly don't think so. I certainly don't see him as a better option than Willi Castro, so I think that if the Twins can push his rehab beyond the regular season and he's an extra guy in case of injury, that would be best for the team.

The team is mentioning three players as possibilities to be activated off the 60-day IL--Stewart, Paddack, and Gordon--all three upon completing their rehab stints would have to take a 40-man roster spot as well. I don't believe Alcalá was ever officially placed on the 60-day list, but he's also rehabbing with an eye toward being activated. Finding guys to move in order to have room for one, two or maybe three guys on the 40-man roster might be a problem. One solution would be to put Buxton on the 60-day list and I wouldn't be surprised if that happens eventually. Another solution would be to DFA Gallo or Luplow, but I think Luplow has a place on a postseason roster in the mind of the front office.

Actually I didn't way he WAS a better option than somebody on the current roster I said IF he was a better option.  Now do I believe he might be a better option than someone like Stevenson?  Sure.  There's a reason you didn't bring Stevenson up until September.  Best not to get cute and out think yourself.  It's kind of like sitting your studs in fantasy. 

[stringer bell]

24 minutes ago, dxpavelka said:

Actually I didn't way he WAS a better option than somebody on the current roster I said IF he was a better option.  Now do I believe he might be a better option than someone like Stevenson?  Sure.  There's a reason you didn't bring Stevenson up until September.  Best not to get cute and out think yourself.  It's kind of like sitting your studs in fantasy. 

I don’t hold any mythic expectations for Stevenson. He’s 29 and has about 500 plate appearances in almost three years of service time. What he is is a good fielder with plus speed and if he’s on a postseason roster he’ll be there for those reasons—not his hitting. 
 

Stevenson may well get DFAed when Taylor is ready to go. Regarding Gordon—I don’t see him sliding into a postseason roster as a hitting option (if Wallner goes 0-20, I think Larnach is the next option) and as a specialist, it seems that Stevenson is a better fit. 
 

For next year, my thought is that the out-of-options Gordon will have to show he’s a much better hitter than Wallner, Larnach and Austin Martin, who will have the advantage of being the only right handed hitter in the group. 

[Fire Dan Gladden]

20 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

Yeah.  I guess you never can have too many guys on your roster that have batted .166 over the past four years.

Yep.  Having a guy on the end of the bench that has a career OPS+ of 109, a OPS+ this year of 100, can play 5 positions defensively, 4 of them above average...

For the playoffs would basically be a defensive replacement or HR needing pinch hitter.  Teams never need guys like this at all...

[SteveLV]

Starting to get very worried about Wallner.  He can't handle the high fast ball.  He looks like Gallo on high fast balls, which is not a good thing.  I hope it is a slump as opposed to being overmatched.  We already have a LH hitting OF who is a AAAA player: Larnach.  Don't want another one.....

[Muppet]

I like Gordon's game. He's kind of like a Nick Punto type. He's good enough at a lot of things and he can sometimes provide that spark that gets things going. He's might not be great at any one thing, but every few years he'll surprise you with some good defense or a near .300 BA. Remember last year he was one of the only Twins who was somewhat consistent in clutch situations. But people here don't care about those types of things. As soon as he goes 3 weeks hitting .200 everyone wants his head. 

I don't know if he makes it to the post season, but I hope next year he finds a team that can appreciate his talent and whatever potential he has left. He won't find that here. Personally, I'd like to see Gordon in the post season, but as others have mentioned, Willi Castro has been very Gordonesque this year, but a bit better, and not on the IL all season. 

[Muppet]

18 minutes ago, SteveLV said:

Starting to get very worried about Wallner.  He can't handle the high fast ball.  He looks like Gallo on high fast balls, which is not a good thing.  I hope it is a slump as opposed to being overmatched.  We already have a LH hitting OF who is a AAAA player: Larnach.  Don't want another one.....

It's a lot easier to overlook long slumps like Wallner's when the rest of the lineup is performing and you still have a Joey Gallo punching bag at the bottom of the roster. Wallner is a rookie who it seems clearly needs time to learn to adjust to the major leagues. I think he's blocking a roster spot from others who probably could make better use of it. 

[jorgenswest]

Expect that it takes time and multiple periods of adjustment to be a successful major league hitter. Expect learning and growth to happen but it happens from periods of struggle. 

[RpR]

1 hour ago, SteveLV said:

Starting to get very worried about Wallner.  He can't handle the high fast ball.  He looks like Gallo on high fast balls, which is not a good thing.  I hope it is a slump as opposed to being overmatched.  We already have a LH hitting OF who is a AAAA player: Larnach.  Don't want another one.....

Next spring, he may find himself in AAA again, but if he does not do better there than Larnach is this year, that may be his new home.

Stevenson, if his baseball career does not work out, he looks likes Chatsworth Osborne, Jr. from the old Dobie Gillis show and could fit right in if they ever did a redo of that.

[Shaitan]

I'd hardly call this a crowded 28-person roster. There are 2-3 expendable names that pop to mind with barely any thought.

[Fred]

On 9/9/2023 at 7:07 PM, Cody Schoenmann said:

I think Castro has already cemented himself as a key member of the 2024 Twins. If Gordon is able to fully heal from his fractured shin, he will probably end up competing with Austin Martin, DaShawn Keirsey Jr., Trevor Larnach, Yunior Severino, or an upcoming off-season free agent signing for the 26th spot on the Twins roster to begin next season. I don't think the Twins should go out of their way to make sure Gordon is on the roster, but, like you said, I think he is an MLB-caliber player who deserves an opportunity. It's possible the Twins and Gordon do part ways, and that may be what ends up being in the best interest of both parties, but until then I don't think it's fair to count him out. 

He will most likely be included as a trade piece used to get another relief arm. Somebody will be glad to have him