Five things to know about new Marlins player
With spring training set to start Thursday, the Marlins continued to add to their roster Sunday by acquiring utility player Nick Gordon from the Minnesota Twins for left-handed relief pitcher Steven Okert.
Here are five things to know about Gordon.
He gives the Marlins another versatile position player: Manager Skip Schumaker embraces versatility in his position players and will have that in Gordon,
28. Defensively, Gordon has experience playing center field (92 games, 66 starts), left field (85 games, 58 starts), second base (64 games, 50 starts) and shortstop (33 games, 15 starts). It’s a similar skill set to the likes of Jon Berti, Xavier Edwards and Vidal Brujan.
The Marlins have not yet decided what position he will play.
He’s a prime candidate for a bounce-back season: After making his MLB debut in 2021, Gordon had a strong 2022 season, hitting .272 with a .743 OPS, 50 RBI, nine home runs, 28 doubles and 45 runs scored in 138 games.
His 2023 was essentially a lost year after sustaining a season-ending right shin injury in mid-May when he fouled a ball off his leg.
If Gordon can return to form, he has a chance to make an instant impact on the lineup.
He comes from a baseball family: Gordon is the son of 21-year pro Tom Gordon and the half-brother of 11-year pro (and former Marlins player) Dee Strange-Gordon.
He’s under team control for four years: Gordon doesn’t become a free agent until after the 2027 season. He is set to make $900,000 this year after losing his arbitration case with the Twins prior to the trade. Gordon filed for $1.25 million.
He adds to the Marlins’ crop of left-handed hitters: With Gordon, the Marlins have five lefthanded hitters on their 40-man roster along with Luis Arraez, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Jesus Sanchez and Victor Mesa Jr.
They also have three switch-hitters in Josh Bell, Brujan and Edwards. This will give the Marlins more flexibility with their lineup.
FRONT-OFFICE HIRE
The Marlins on Monday hired Sara Goodrum to be the team’s director of special projects, yet another new role for Peter Bendix’s front office. In this capacity, Goodrum will assist on various projects throughout the baseball operations department.
Goodrum spent the past two seasons as the Houston Astros’ director of player development. Prior to joining the Astros, she spent five seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers (20172021) and was the organization’s minor-league hitting coordinator in 2021.
Goodrum played college softball and received a bachelor’s degree in human physiology from the University of Oregon before receiving a master’s degree in exercise and sports science from the University of Utah.
She is just the latest hire in the front office since Bendix took over as president of baseball operations.
Other additions have included assistant general manager Gabe Kapler, director of baseball operations Vinesh Kanthan, director of player development Rachel Balkovec and director of amateur scouting Frankie Piliere.