Why Swapping Nick Gordon for Steven Okert Made Sense on Both Sides

[Theodore Tollefson]

Though it was a small trade, Sunday brought the latest maneuver in the Twins' effort to secure their status as AL Central favorites, and it represented a good match between teams facing roster fit questions.

Image courtesy of © Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports

When Twins fans woke up Sunday morning, the team was still littered with fringy infielders on their 40-man roster, including Kyle Farmer, Austin Martin, Jose Miranda, and Nick Gordon.

By mid-day, that all changed. Gordon was dealt to the Miami Marlins for left-handed reliever Steven Okert. Okert’s name has been one writers had advocated for the Twins to pursue as far back as the summer of 2022, long before  Gordon has garnered similar interest from the Marlins. Now both players are being traded to fill in the remaining holes on their new teams’ depth charts, just days before the start of Spring Training. 

Taking a glance at both the Twins’ and Marlins’ 40-man rosters, this trade made a lot of sense for both teams. The Twins have a plethora of relief arms but (until now) a dearth of left-handers in the bullpen. The three left-handed pitchers on the Twins' 40-man were Caleb Thielbar, Kody Funderburk, and Brent Headrick.

Funderburk and Headrick are coming off their rookie seasons and have only thrown a combined 37 2/3 innings in the majors in 2023. The two had different outcomes during their first year in the bigs, but no matter how either had looked, their inexperience makes it hard to stack them behind Thielbar, the only lefty guaranteed to be in the Twins bullpen on Opening Day. 

Thielbar is entering his age-37 season, an age at which players typically see regressions in their performance. There is no clear indication this will be the case for Thielbar in 2024, but if he does end up regressing (or continuing to battle injury issues), the Twins need another lefty outside of Funderburk and Headrick to back him up in the bullpen.

Enter Okert, a 32-year-old, six-year veteran who is under team control for three more seasons. Okert, like Thielbar, has had two separate stints in the majors, separated by a lacuna of multiple seasons. His first shot came with the Giants from 2016 to 2018, for whom he made 70 relief appearances but only completed 48 innings of work across the three campaigns. 

In 2021, Okert made it back from the brink of obsolescence. The Giants had let him languish (with ugly surface-level numbers, although still-impressive peripheral ones) for all of 2019 in Triple A, which opened the door for him to become a minor-league free agent that winter. He didn’t sign with anyone before the world and the league shut down in 2020, and only signed a minor-league deal—without even the near-standard courtesy of an invite to the big-league camp—with Miami the following February, He threw 15 games with the Triple-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp and posted a 1.80 ERA. The Marlins called him up on June 30, and he stuck in their bullpen for the following two and a half seasons.

Okert will be a good contrast to Thielbar in his primary pitch types on the mound. Thielbar is known for his four-seam fastball and curveball, while Okert’s main pitchers are a sinker and slider. The Twins have been well known for pursuing pitchers who make heavy use of sliders. Okert fits that bill, having thrown his slider 625 times in 2023.

Before acquiring Okert on Sunday, the Twins had only pursued right-handed relief arms to bolster their bullpen this offseason. They have added a considerable number of arms this winter compared to others, but Okert is the first left-handed reliever the Twins have traded for or signed on an MLB deal since Zach Duke in 2018.

Amid the slow-moving offseason, Derek Falvey, Thad Levine, and company have not hesitated in adding relievers who will serve a short or long-term role in the bullpen this year. Okert’s arrival, coming just when we might have surmised that the pen would be complete, underscores their commitment to getting the reliever mix right.

The Marlins had eight outfielders, but their everyday center fielder, Jazz Chisholm Jr., has only played 95 games in the outfield in his career. Gordon played 166 games in the outfield between center and left in his three seasons in the majors, and acquitted himself well there. 

Before this trade, the Marlins lacked a solid fourth outfielder who can play multiple days in a row at multiple positions if need be. Avisaíl García is limited to a right field/designated hitter-type role at this stage in his career. Bryan De La Cruz and Jesús Sánchez had solid 2023 seasons that have earned them full-time roles in the corner outfields, but neither is yet a sure thing.

Gordon comes in as the first man to fill the void for any of his new teammates if they are either hurt or in need of a day off. Plus, he will see more playing time at second base than he would have if he stayed with the Twins, as he returns to serve as a backup to old friend Luis Arráez.

Arráez will still see playing time at both first and second base in 2024, and the Marlins do have a budding prospect at second base in Xavier Edwards, who had a .295 batting average with the team in 30 games in 2023. Gordon being added to the platoon mix will give Arráez more time off his feet (as necessary) and allow Edwards more time to grow into a full-time major-leaguer.

While Twins fans and teammates of Gordon will miss his role as a clubhouse hype man in 2024, he will have a fresh start in Miami—a chance to break away from a 2023 season that brought a frustrating combination of struggle, setback, and as far out as a curse put on by a fan.

Okert may not be able to fill that excitement void, but the role he fills is one at which the Twins have had a longtime need: a second left-handed reliever capable of being on the team all season.

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[4twinsJA]

I agree, hopefully a win-win for both teams. Twins have plenty of depth for Gordon's role and needed a LH pitcher for BP, Gordon a good fit for Miami. Hope Gordon has a good year.

[GKuehl]

Really good move, especially considering Okert has 3 years of team control remaining and there was no fit or role for Nick Gordon to fill on the Twins. Okert can complement Thielbar this season and, potentially, take over for him over the next few years if Thielbar struggles to perform or stay healthy. 

[roger]

Love how the Twins strengthened the back end of their bullpen this winter.  Should add a few wins compared to last year, perhaps more than enough to offset the loss of Gray.

As you wrote about the various lefties available to them, I kept thinking you didn't mention Jovani Moran.  Yes, he is no longer on the 40-man, but I had to check to confirm he is still on the St. Paul roster.  If he could only figure out a way to reduce the number of walks, he could be special.

Expect this also means Funderburk will begin his season in St. Paul, adding to their depth for the season.

 

[Muppet]

I hope Gordon has a breakout year. He was never going to get a good opportunity on the Twins.

[tony&rodney]

19 minutes ago, roger said:

Jovani Moran

TJ surgery, expected back potentially in early 2025. 

[Twins GFP]

Gordon was a DFA candidate.  The fact they got anything of value for him makes this a Twins win.

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

Just looking at this group on paper - still not really sold on Descalfini as the 5th starter - if he's healthy, I think he can fill that spot - but is he healthy? Wonder if the Twins don't consider shifting him to a long relief role with Varland getting stretched out in AAA and signing a starting pitcher to boost the rotation...

[Fezig]

It'll be interesting to see if the clubhouse dynamic changes with Polanco and Gordon getting dealt. A leader and "hype man" can sometimes be tough to replace overnight. 

[NeverSeenATwinsPlayoffWin]

I wonder if this means that the FO is looking to add another OF. Maybe they feel really good about Martin/Castro playing CF if Buxton goes down, but the depth in the OF appears thin. 

[Dman]

32 minutes ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

Gordon was a DFA candidate.  The fact they got anything of value for him makes this a Twins win.

Yeah I am with you here.  The Twins wanted\needed a right handed bat for Gordon's role and with no options left Martin or a FA addition looked better in that spot.  Since he had a horrible year last year the odds of finding a team that "believed" in Gordon as much as the Twins was going to be hard.  Thankfully Miami had a need the Twins could  fill and vice versa.  Getting nothing for Gordon would have hurt so I think the FO did well to not only find a good return, but also one that met a need. That is not easy to do.  Well played FO, well played.

[tony&rodney]

1 hour ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

Gordon was a DFA candidate.  The fact they got anything of value for him makes this a Twins win.

True, but this is the exact same comment made by Marlins fans. No room on either team made this trade a win, win for both teams. Gordon might have had a chance to win a roster spot with a great camp, but Okert had a slimmer shot of making the Marlins roster no matter how he performed being the fourth left-handed reliever in the bullpen. Good trade.

[Blyleven2011]

47 minutes ago, Fezig said:

It'll be interesting to see if the clubhouse dynamic changes with Polanco and Gordon getting dealt. A leader and "hype man" can sometimes be tough to replace overnight. 

Enter Royce Lewis  to cover one of the  clubhouse leader and rah rah guy   .. 

[gman]

I don't think the front office wanted to DFA Gordon, or else they would have done so before the arbitration hearing. On the other hand, I don't think they wanted to use a roster space for him either. I think if they didn't find a trade partner. he would have been on the roster to start the year. So Miami helped the Twins put  by providing a lefty reliever and opening a roster space. I don't think the Twins are opening the year with 9 relievers so Gordon's spot will be taken by a bench bat of some kind. If Buxton is not ready to play at the start of the year, the spot may go to Martin. If Buxton is ready to play, the spot may go to Miranda, Larnach or Martin. I don't think it goes to Larnach or Martin because I think they would prefer that those 2 play fulltime in 3A.

[Riverbrian]

I'll wait for the off-season to conclude before I decide how I feel. 

If I were to decide today. It's a good deal and a bad deal at the same time. 

Good deal: We got something for Gordon. That's a win. 

Bad Deal: Gordon was a 5th pick overall that leaves the organization in return for a 33 year old left handed guy out of the bullpen. There is no way that is a win. 

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

Carlos Correa is one of the best leaders in baseball. Not worried about leadership with this team.

[Twins GFP]

18 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

I'll wait for the off-season to conclude before I decide how I feel. 

If I were to decide today. It's a good deal and a bad deal at the same time. 

Good deal: We got something for Gordon. That's a win. 

Bad Deal: Gordon was a 5th pick overall that leaves the organization in return for a 33 year old left handed guy out of the bullpen. There is no way that is a win. 

Gordon was a bust before this trade was made.  Happened before, will happen again.  At this point it was a "get what you can" situation.

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

Didn't like the Gordon pick when it was made. He's like 6'0 150 pounds. The measurables weren't there with him at least not to the point where he would be a top 5 pick. I think the Twins were a bit blinded by the bloodlines and positional versatility that really turned into a jack-of-all trades, master of none....

[Riverbrian]

2 minutes ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

Gordon was a bust before this trade was made.  Happened before, will happen again.  At this point it was a "get what you can" situation.

IMO... Bust is a strong word to describe him.

As a 5th overall pick... there is no question he is a bust. As a baseball player... despite exhausting every last drop of his options because he didn't blow the minor leagues away. He did have a good year in his only full year in the majors.

2022 Gordon played good for 405 AB's at multiple positions. Nothing wrong with his numbers that year. 

I understand that you have to "get what you can" and I understand that top 5 draft picks have failed and will fail again in the future.

Once he leaves your organization you have locked in your return... We drafted him... we worked with him since 2014. In the end... that locked in return was a 33 year old left handed bullpen guy.

That's not a win for a 5th overall pick even if getting something for him was a win.      

. 

[Doctor Gast]

MIA's fans were very frustrated by Okert's performance at the end of '23 season push & were glad to get rid of him. They like Gordon's upside plus the Gordon connection & it's kinda a homecoming for him. Wish Gordon & MIA well. Okert has been a reliable RP for MIA. Hope the Twins can solve what went wrong & do some tweaking. A win/ win trade.

[Twins GFP]

45 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

IMO... Bust is a strong word to describe him.

As a 5th overall pick... there is no question he is a bust. As a baseball player... despite exhausting every last drop of his options because he didn't blow the minor leagues away. He did have a good year in his only full year in the majors.

2022 Gordon played good for 405 AB's at multiple positions. Nothing wrong with his numbers that year. 

I understand that you have to "get what you can" and I understand that top 5 draft picks have failed and will fail again in the future.

Once he leaves your organization you have locked in your return... We drafted him... we worked with him since 2014. In the end... that locked in return was a 33 year old left handed bullpen guy.

That's not a win for a 5th overall pick even if getting something for him was a win.      

. 

Respectfully you are arguing two points here:

As a 5th pick, that is sunk cost.  You have expectations for that type of pick. Whether they are met or not is up to the player.  As a 5th pick in the draft, he did very little to live up to expectations:  below average defender, not good enough offensively to hold a position.

His draft spot had no impact on whether he succeeded or not as a player.  As a player, he had 400 decent at-bats and then failed miserably.  You can look at Kennys Vargas and Jose Miranda as similar comps for the moment.  Is there yet time for him to make a decent career for himself?  Sure, but he is on his last legs, possibly his last opportunity.  If the Twins felt he would be productive, they would have kept him over Castro.  As a Twin, his chances for making the team this year were extremely low, a very strong DFA candidate.  To get anything of value for this type of player can only be identified as a win.  

[jmlease1]

I'm fairly happy with this trade, as I was concerned that Gordon didn't really have a spot and was out of options. His best position was left field, and if he's not hitting what he adds defensively there isn't really enough. Now, he did have horrid luck last season even before the injury, but he's also only had one quality season out of 3 in MLB.

Okert looks like a solid second lefty in the 'pen, even if he's not exactly been Death to Lefties in his career and has fairly neutral splits. While I don't see him blowing the doors off anyone, he's likely to be a bit better than last season and give us a useful option in the middle innings. And having Funderburk in AAA gives some nice depth in that area if Thielbar gets dinged up.

Bullpen is looking much deeper than last season at this time: Duran, Jax, Thielbar, Stewart, Topa, Jackson, Okert, and one from the Staumont/Alcala,/Winder/Weiss/Sands collection should be a solid 8 guys who hopefully all can get used regularly. The one thing i don't want to see is that last man in the bullpen only throwing once a week and functionally wasting a roster spot. 

[IaBeanCounter]

I believe that this is a good trade for both teams and players.  Nick was starting to come around in May, prior to his injury.  For Mar/Apr he had an OPS of .356 for May it was .750.  He wasn't going to see a lot of playing time with the Twins as Castro is ahead of him.  I hope Gordon gets the opportunity to play and hits as well or better than his 2022 season.

Looking at Okert 2023 numbers, he allowed earned runs in 25% of his games, 7 (1 er), 6 (2 er) and 3 (3+ er).   I think the 25% is pretty normal.  Duran allowed runs in 23.7% of his games (14/59), but only twice did he allow 2 or more er.   I don't think Okert will be great, but I do think he fills a need, much like Pagan in 2023.

[Fatbat]

I love this trade because we got a LH reliever that throws a slider.  I really like that we got a great adoptive home for the wayward Gordon. He was almost free to a good home situation….. It only cost the Pohlads $200k. 

[Riverbrian]

4 hours ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

Respectfully you are arguing two points here:

As a 5th pick, that is sunk cost.  You have expectations for that type of pick. Whether they are met or not is up to the player.  As a 5th pick in the draft, he did very little to live up to expectations:  below average defender, not good enough offensively to hold a position.

His draft spot had no impact on whether he succeeded or not as a player.  As a player, he had 400 decent at-bats and then failed miserably.  You can look at Kennys Vargas and Jose Miranda as similar comps for the moment.  Is there yet time for him to make a decent career for himself?  Sure, but he is on his last legs, possibly his last opportunity.  If the Twins felt he would be productive, they would have kept him over Castro.  As a Twin, his chances for making the team this year were extremely low, a very strong DFA candidate.  To get anything of value for this type of player can only be identified as a win.  

LOL... I'm not sure how many points I'm arguing because I think we largely agree. 

The combination of having no options and not being as good as the guy who survives roster cuts places him hanging on the end of that string until he puts together a decent year or two. 

Which he will have to do in Miami. 

 

 

[DocBauer]

5 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

IMO... Bust is a strong word to describe him.

As a 5th overall pick... there is no question he is a bust. As a baseball player... despite exhausting every last drop of his options because he didn't blow the minor leagues away. He did have a good year in his only full year in the majors.

2022 Gordon played good for 405 AB's at multiple positions. Nothing wrong with his numbers that year. 

I understand that you have to "get what you can" and I understand that top 5 draft picks have failed and will fail again in the future.

Once he leaves your organization you have locked in your return... We drafted him... we worked with him since 2014. In the end... that locked in return was a 33 year old left handed bullpen guy.

That's not a win for a 5th overall pick even if getting something for him was a win.      

. 

Not often I disagree with you Brian, but have to in this case.

Now I was never a fan of Gordon as the Twins pick that year. I just didn't see the skill set and projection for that high of a pick. I came around a bit as he startes to put up some decent numbers. And I've been rooting for him for some time considering all he's been through, bad intestinal ailments, severe covid that had him hospitalized, to a bum ankle, in 2019 i believe it was, when he looked to be ready for his 1st promotion that ended up going to Arraez. 

But I believe you have to remove failed hopes and expectations from being a high draft choice 9yrs later. I think at this point you simply have to examine him in the context of who he has become as a ballplayer. And that's a guy who can play a few positions, not great, but OK. He's developed some pop, can hit RHP, but simply wasn't a fit for the Twins going forward. If he hit RH, it might be a different story. 

Sounds like his versatility and LH bat is a good fit for what Miami needs. And getting a solid LH pen arm who's been pretty good save the last month of 2023, is a good fit for the Twins.

I hope Nick does well in Miami, and he just might. But I believe this a good trade for both players and both teams. It stinks we didn't get a better, more valuable player for a top 1st round pick. But in the context of who he is, it was a win for both sides.

[Brandon]

Nick Gordon is exactly the type of hitter we thought we were getting when we drafted him.  It was said back then he projects to be a .260-.280 hitter with 30 2Bs and 10-15 HRs with 10-15 stolen bases. But it was also thought Gordon could potentially stick at SS and with what the Twins were getting there for years since Gagne left, we were thrilled with that type of production. But…. He didn’t stick at SS.  Anyways, I hope he does well and out does his brother in career numbers….

[Riverbrian]

28 minutes ago, DocBauer said:

Not often I disagree with you Brian, but have to in this case.

Now I was never a fan of Gordon as the Twins pick that year. I just didn't see the skill set and projection for that high of a pick. I came around a bit as he startes to put up some decent numbers. And I've been rooting for him for some time considering all he's been through, bad intestinal ailments, severe covid that had him hospitalized, to a bum ankle, in 2019 i believe it was, when he looked to be ready for his 1st promotion that ended up going to Arraez. 

But I believe you have to remove failed hopes and expectations from being a high draft choice 9yrs later. I think at this point you simply have to examine him in the context of who he has become as a ballplayer. And that's a guy who can play a few positions, not great, but OK. He's developed some pop, can hit RHP, but simply wasn't a fit for the Twins going forward. If he hit RH, it might be a different story. 

Sounds like his versatility and LH bat is a good fit for what Miami needs. And getting a solid LH pen arm who's been pretty good save the last month of 2023, is a good fit for the Twins.

I hope Nick does well in Miami, and he just might. But I believe this a good trade for both players and both teams. It stinks we didn't get a better, more valuable player for a top 1st round pick. But in the context of who he is, it was a win for both sides.

You will always be the best Doc!

I'm not trying to say it was a bad trade. I understand the current context.

But... Yeah I am saying... he was a 5th round pick that was cashed in for a 33 year old lefthander and your last sentence agrees with me.

It wasn't the first time something like that happens and it won't be the last. The highways are littered with them. 

Could Gordon become Mickey Moniak? Is he just another Nick Senzel? That will be up to Nick in Miami but he's done better than Corey Ray. 😉

 

 

[arby58]

11 hours ago, roger said:

As you wrote about the various lefties available to them, I kept thinking you didn't mention Jovani Moran.  Yes, he is no longer on the 40-man, but I had to check to confirm he is still on the St. Paul roster.  If he could only figure out a way to reduce the number of walks, he could be special.

He's had seven seasons, and he simply can't figure it out. Moran''s pitched 257 innings in the minor leagues and issued 130 walks. In 91 MLB innings, he's added another 42 walks. He basically averages a walk every two innings- which explains his MLB career 1.330 WHIP. That just isn't going to cut it.

[JD-TWINS]

9 hours ago, gman said:

I don't think the front office wanted to DFA Gordon, or else they would have done so before the arbitration hearing. On the other hand, I don't think they wanted to use a roster space for him either. I think if they didn't find a trade partner. he would have been on the roster to start the year. So Miami helped the Twins put  by providing a lefty reliever and opening a roster space. I don't think the Twins are opening the year with 9 relievers so Gordon's spot will be taken by a bench bat of some kind. If Buxton is not ready to play at the start of the year, the spot may go to Martin. If Buxton is ready to play, the spot may go to Miranda, Larnach or Martin. I don't think it goes to Larnach or Martin because I think they would prefer that those 2 play fulltime in 3A.

Miranda can’t play OF & Santana is best hitter from right side, so Jose is SOL unless one of the 1B is hurt.