Nick Gordon Deserves Another Chance

Time to let him go. He’ll get many more opportunities and more playing time with a lower team. He could be one of the best players on the As or Royals. But he’ll always be the last bench guy on the twins. 

Whether they act when AK/Farmer return or have an injury or some roster engineering, I don't see him remaining a Twin beyond summer when Lewis returns.  Although I expect him to be moved, I believe the Twins should be able to trade this young man for some type of prospect.  

Gordon's best shot is OF, that's where he plays best. The addition of Gallo & Taylor plus hanging unto Kepler & Larnach was hot with Kiriloff ready to come back. has really put a crimp on  Gordon's opportunity to make it in the OF. I really like the contributions that Gordon has done in the OF the last 2 seasons but because of what FO has done & not done Gordon's Goose is cooked. So I'd try to find a suiter for him but how he has been playing I doubt that there'll be any. Yet if he's DFAed he be gone, no doubt about it. Cave was gotten right away, if nobody else would claim him DET would. 

The best players need to play. With that said Gordon played well over an extended period of time last year & this year he hasn't seen much playing time. He's had all of 53 PA's this year after proving himself valuable in nearly 500 PA's last year.

The one thing holding him back is plate discipline. If he figures that out he'll be a productive player, if not then it will be tough for him no matter where he goes as pitchers just won't give him good pitches to hit. 

If a decision needs to made in the near future IMO it would have Castro before Gordon.

Baseball is tough enough when a player is a regular, but youngish guys need opportunities to grow their game. I don't know where Nick Gordon fits on the Twins team either now or in the future. I do think he could become a star player with an opportunity. I cannot understand any talk of sending down Trevor Larnach. It is a little befuddling as to why Gordon has not gotten any playing time. I was pretty sure he would be in the lineup today, but nope. Maybe tomorrow.

He deserves every chance popular, but Nick is now a bench player. He can improve his worth to the Twins, of course, by just improving play. The Twins have invested in him. The team's options are to give him more or less playing time, hope his value increases and they can trade him, and keep fingers crossed that a likely candidate to replace him sooner rather than later is in the system.

I would be keeping a close watch on Michael Helman. who is coming off an injury to start the season but looks to be hot in St. Paul. At 27, Helman is the same age as Nick. Is he more than a prospect to be a bench guy (excelling at second base and the outfield, including center). He shows power, Some good speed.

Until Farmer comes back and the Twins need to make a decision, Gordon is safe.

But the future with the Twins needing to find positions and playing time for names like Julien, Lewis, Lee and Martin, Gordon may be expendable, sooner rather than later.

The Twins are approaching a point where someone is going to have to be cut from the major league roster. It appears that for this season the Twins should be in more of a win-now mode than a plan-for-the-future mode. That means keeping players who are doing well now. I agree that Gordon deserves another chance. But what could be best, both for the Twins and for Gordon, is for that chance to happen with another organization. Getting a low-level prospect in a trade for Gordon is a deal we should make because DFAing him gets him claimed by another team with the Twins getting nothing in return.

He doesn’t deserve anything.  He’s been awful.  He’s already been afforded multiple opportunities other players don’t get due to his draft position and family name.

Its so strange to me.  I don’t know the root of the blinding bias, but it’s clearly there.  Numerous people here want to jettison players who have much better and longer track records, and provide more value, but have this unshakable loyalty to one of the worst players in the major leagues right now. He literally has no redeeming skill that should keep him on a major league roster right now. It would be one thing if he had defensive value,  but he doesn’t.

For some reason I cant comment on Cody Pirkls article on Headrick so I will add it here.  He should get a start if the opportunity arises as while 3 appearances and 8 1/3 innings is a small sample size.  He has shown he is capable in all 3 outings and seems up to the task of making it through 5-6 innings.  It is definitely between him and Varland if Mahle skips a start.  Either way he will get more innings out of the pen with the job he has done so far.

A good guy. But I won't miss him.

18 hours ago, stringer bell said:

There is already an oversupply of left handed hitters in the corner outfield, so getting Nick plate appearances there is unlikely. Michael A Taylor's relative success in center also limits his chances.

I think the biggest "obstacle" for Nick this year is the lack of playing time in center field, which of course is due to the presence of Taylor. Gordon seemed comfortable in center, but I think a lot less so at second base, where he is getting more of the playing time this year. I'm also a fan of Gordon and I think he will shine will regular playing time at a single position, but it's looking that will be less likely with the current Twins roster, plus players like Farmer, Lewis, and Kiriloff coming back from the IL. As others have said, Gordon is becoming more of the odd man out on the Twins this year. I could see him becoming a fan favorite in Oakland. 

17 hours ago, Richie the Rally Goat said:

Castro isn’t hitting “well” but I think a strong case can be made that Castro is indeed hitting better than Gordon.

Pick your stat, Gordon’s K rate is lower, but that’s the only one that paints a rosey picture. My favorite wRC+ has Castro 18% below league average (bad) and Gordon 118% below league average. That’s impressively bad.

I am not sure if any of these are close to stabilizing, strikeout rate would stabilize earliest and possibly meaningful. The batted ball data from statcast stabilizes with fewer plate appearances. Gordon’s xBA and xSLG are 255 and 405 based on the number and quality of balls put in play this year.

Sometimes a player that is just playing poorly has to be replaced. It appears the Twins have other players that will help them more than Gordon.  He has no future with the Twins so maybe he will catch on with a team that needs him. Why any team would claim him is hard to understand since it appears he can not hit over .200. The Twins have too much talent to hold on to him.

First, if I’m Gordon, I’d welcome a new start somewhere else to get a chance to play regularly and exit this environment.

However, second, there is no chance I’d give up on Gordon at this point. Castro goes first. Solano second (the guy cannot field to save his soul), and Kepler third.  Those three will not be here next season. Gordon has more upside at the plate than those three, and except for Kepler in the OF, is a better fielder with more positional flexibility.

Third, the Twins may want to have him next year when Buxton still is not playing CF and Martin, Gallo, and there three players mentioned above are all gone.

The conundrum is how to get him more ABs to get on track.  It’s hard to see that happening.  So, going back to the first point, if I were Gordon, I’d be looking for a new home where I could jumpstart the rest of my career.  Get out of here - find a place where I will get a chance to show last summer/fall was the hitting, versatile spark plug of a player he really is.  Maybe get some appreciation too.

Farmer, Kirilloff, Julien, Lewis, Wallner, and possibly Martin mean the end of Castro, Solano and Gordon this year, and probably Polanco and Kepler next year. Tough choices will have to be made.

I like Gordon & think he did prove something last year. The disappointing start (only 53 PA's) this this year is because he hasn't improved his plate discipline. If that doesn't improve pitchers won't give him anything good to hit. On the other hand if he were to improve that area he should be a productive player with the Twins or elsewhere.

Nick Gordon for all of his charisma is a hitter with poor plate discipline and in the field, a jack of all trades, but really a master of none of them--except maybe 2nd. Unfortunately for Nick, these types of players are available if not in spades at least in clubs. I don't see the downside to DFAing him at this point because even as trade bait, what would you get in return?