At least three teams have expressed some interest in Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon, according to a report from Jon Heyman of Fan Rag. The Angels, Blue Jays, and Royals have each “at least mentioned” the infielder as a possible deadline target, per Heyman.
Gordon, 29, hasn’t continued the form he showed in 2015, his first season with Miami. He slashed a career-best .333/.359/.418 — helped along by a .383 batting average on balls in play — and swiped 58 bags that year. With quality glovework mixed in, Gordon was valued at 4.7 fWAR and earned himself a five-year, $50MM extension.
He has had a somewhat redemptive 2017 season, at least, after his second season with the Marlins was marred by a PED suspension and significant performance decline. In his 375 plate appearances this year, Gordon owns a .295/.342/.358 batting line and has already stolen 32 bases.
While there isn’t immense need at second base around the game, Gordon would be a future asset for any acquiring team. And with his immense speed and highly rated glovework, he’d also be a particularly useful postseason roster piece.
All said, Gordon’s contract seems fairly reasonable, though it’s certainly not the bargain the Marlins once hoped it would be. The deal promises Gordon $7.5MM this year and $38MM over the three seasons to come — which includes a $1MM buyout on a $14MM option for 2021. (That option would be guaranteed if Gordon reaches 600 plate appearances in 2020 or 1,200 over that and the prior season.)
It’s not yet clear just what kinds of trade scenarios might entice the Marlins. Presumably, though, the focus would be on shedding as much of the financial commitment as possible. It’s not difficult to see the reason for interest from the teams that Heyman lists, as the Halos, Jays, and Royals have each had their share of uncertainty at second base. But it’s an open question whether those or any other teams would really be willing to take on most or all of Gordon’s contract.
Whit Merrifield has been decent for the Royals since Mondesi was sent down, Colon was DFAd. Once Whit was given the job he became pretty clutch. He may not be the future 2B but I’d imagine that they’d still want him in the lineup. He’s been a spark plug for us.
Royals should get him play him at shortstop
Yeah, Escobar needs to be gone, he’s had his 5 years with us, Dee can play SS he’s way better than Escobar ever will be
Put merrifield in right and share DH with moss and soler
What happens to Boni then
Please don’t do this Angels, his only truly good tool (speed) is declining and he is overpaid.
His speed may be declining but I have to disagree that he is overpaid. 10 mil a year (on average) is a great price to the upside he brings
He has almost no patience and absolutely no power – his “upside” is “luck”
When he is on the lucky side of things he hits not-quite-as-horribly (like this year) but when his luck turns or is more neutral, you see something like last season
As he ages over the 30yo hump (which he is hitting in the beginning of next year) that luck will become more and more crucial too, as he will be loosing the limited influence he has over it now. That declines and he is going to become completely insufferable in a hurry.
Another Johnny Superscout
The Angels would have a deadly threat on the bases. Imagine the SB’s from top third of their order: Gordon, Maybin, Trout. Or 9, 1, 2. Then you have EY Jr. and Revere off the bench. Espinosa’s days were numbered a long time ago. Probably would hold a WC spot already if they were at least getting normal seasons from Espinosa, Valbuena, and Cron.
One of EY Jr or Revere will probably be cut when Trout is back on Friday.
Revere most likely
I’m not so sure about that as revere as been playing more the past two weeks and is getting paid more. It could be one of two things why revere has played more which is ey jr bruised his hand against the Mariners while running into the wall two weeks ago or he has been struggling the past few weeks prior to that. I believe ey has hit around .190 the past month or so and only had 5 at bats the last week.
yeah i think EY is the odd man out. He’s cooled off
Albert runs like he has polio. His lack of speed easily cancels them all out.
Please don’t say stuff like this. My mom had polio, and it has literally affected her for 50 years.
and so now everyone in the world must walk on eggshells the rest of their lives to avoid offending some random guy on the Internet that we couldn’t care less about? I hope that was a bad joke.
I Think Albert is a Bench player for the rest of ( career ) The Millions that the Angels over payed for this Guy.
Has anyone Notice that Albert power Number have drop since when their was Rumors that the Boy was on the juice, maybe Clark knew what he was talking about .
Mmmm…no.
Pujols “cooled off” because he’s in his mid-30s when any player’s bat speed slows, and because the hitter following him in the lineup is Valbuena hitting .190. Pitchers don’t have to throw Pujols anything he could hit, because he’s not a threat on the bases if he walks and Valbuena is a living Out #3.
They’re all overpaid.
If you compare them to how much ownership makes, you could argue that they’re underpaid.
Bring back Josh Hamilton and Vernon Wells!
What about Gary Matthews Jr.?
Never any love for Gary Matthews Jr.
I’m glad the angels have had such awful luck with former rangers. Makes me smile.
there’s a reason gary gets no love
I think it’s worthwhile for the Angels to pursue if all they really need to do is take on the contract to help the Marlins and not have to give up much in return. 2nd base is a blackhole. Speed declines quickly but he is still stealing bases this season. It’s not a long commitment if it doesn’t work.
The Royals would have to take on 100% of that contract to get anything done unless the Marlins don’t want much in return. The Royals farm system is devoid of any premiere talent and I highly doubt they’d give up Raul Mondesi for Gordon.
Jays stop trading prospects…this old core cannot win…
If it’s a straight salary dump I’d be on board. He’d bring an element that no one else on the team can
I don’t think it would be a straight up dump, he brings good value and his contract is relatively fair priced for a player of his caliber.
Since the Marlins priority is trimming salary I’m sure he can be had for a discount, but I think it would be pretty dumb of them to just unload an asset like him without getting anything of value back.
Have you seen the marlins trades in recent years? All they do is unload assets at a discount in order to not have to take on salary, hell they will even throw in competitive balance draft picks to ensure they dont have to pay a dollar.
Yes! Absolutely agree unless the Jays trade foryounger, elite players to add to the older core with the prospects. Dee Gordon is older, overpaid and past his prime. Although, I can see the Marlins chipping in some cash to lower the salray. If it represetned a b teir prospect and they ate at least 50-60%% of all remaining salary, it might be a good fit with the Jays
To me this is the blue jays simply looking at a piece to get them to the post season for a cheap cost. the jays wouldn’t give up any decent prospect as they have a 2b right now who while injury riddled you can’t just give up on.
as for those who say dee’s speed is on the decline. he’s on pace for nearly 60sb. only one other player in baseball is likely to have that so not sure the argument makes all that much sense.
If I’m the royal I really look at this move and move whit to SS, allows them to move Escobar for anything as he is killing them this year.
Declining? That’s like saying that “Judges HR’s are ONLY going 450 feet now, so his power is declining”……LOL
His speed is declining his only asset
Because 60 SBs is declining lol
jays should just admit defeat and sell everyone they can especially donaldson
Sadly Yes, the Jays should sell everything they can as long as it gets a good return. The Jays mgmt wasn’t willing to elite upgrade the franchise, so might as well sell, sell, sell. Next year the core will be worse as it ages away from 30+.
There is a distinct difference between trading prospects and trading top prospects. If they can get this guy for some middling prospects, do you think it is going to make the team worse long term? Probably not. But it will certainly make them better in the short term, which is what Rogers almost certainly wants. Don’t hold your breath for a rebuild, Rogers is selling too many tickets and too much merch right now for that to be an even remotely viable option.
Sad but true. What you said can tanslate into not winning anything for years and years.
Noooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!! Marlins stop trading people we need all the good people as possible! If you trade him you only get prospects which means that they won’t be MLB ready for a year or two so! DO NOT TRADE ANYONE MARLINS!!!!!!
Have you watched the Marlins this year?
You obviously have no baseball knowledge KG
“Only get prospects”. Yeah not like those pesky prospects turn into All-stars ever.
nothing against dee, but i see him becoming a michael bourn type player. great speed, great defense, a few good years hitting but nothing outstanding. then once the speed goes and you can’t hit, you’re toast.
If Dee gets traded to the Angels, it would complete a 2 year, complicated, full participation trade for Howie Kendrick.
Austin Barnes is the real prize in those 3 team exchanges
Andrew Heaney
And Kike’… In retrospect, a fairly good trade for all if wasn’t for Heaney’s TJ. The ATL trade was a fleecing, if not just for Wood (and the large bag of balls) for….what was his name again?
hahaha
No, we (Braves fans) need someone to PLEASE take Brandon Phillips off our hands so Albies can be called up. You can have Phillips for a bucket of batting practice balls.
You realize Phillips is hitting at least league average if not better and the Braves are paying only like 1 mil? That’s a steal
I never once said that it was a bad deal when the Braves acquired Phillips. Nor did I say that Phillips had been terrible (although statistically he isn’t great either offensively or defensively). But the fact is that Phillips was supposed to be a bridge until Albies was ready. By almost all accounts Albies is ready now. He has dominated since returning from the DL recently. Albies also reworked his left-handed swing (with Chipper’s help) and shown his elbow is fully recovered from the horrible injury last year. Phillips has done his job and now is the time to step aside. There are only so much demand for aging secondbaseman at the trade deadline (hence my half jest post earlier). I just want another taste of the future in Atlanta (in Albies) instead of the past of the Reds.
uh i’m sure somebody will take him and the less than 1 million left owed to him
For what it is worth, Gordon makes certain sense for the Angels, for the right price.
1. Angels are not going to tear down and rebuild but retool for the last few years of current Trout contract (2018-2020). Reasonably competent but not too “expensive” (whether in prospects or money) player signed for next few years is not bad. Gordon (almost) fits the bill (he will be quite expensive for the remainder of the contract, but that’s still bearable–and that will likely make it possible for Angels to get him without giving up too much by means of prospects, which they are still short on.)
2. Angels are painfully thin on middle infield, organization wise., and youngish infielders seem rare in the upcoming FA market.
3. For what it is worth, Eppler did rebuild the farm enough that some high-ceiling but raw OF prospects at lower levels might be available.
Good chance that Angels will regret the deal, if it happens, since Gordon could easily fall apart soon, if his speed goes. But he should be a worthwhile gamble for next couple of years.
I agree I’m not sure what it would take but I think a trade of cron (as he has I think 4 years of control if they want to trade bour they could get a controllable 1B) Danny Espinosa(who could fill the need for a 2B this year) and prospect(s)
sounds like a fantasy trade take multiple garbage pieces for 1 guy.
Who do the Angels even have to trade? There farm system sucks
Don’t need to trade anything really if they’re just getting rid of his salary
Not saying it’s good or anything but there are some decent prospects in there
dee doesn’t take a good farm to get
ohhhh i knew the angels were one of the teams in on him. I hope this happens if the prospect cost isn’t much
Dee to Toronto for Connor Greene straight up. And take his salary.
Never happen. Connor greene is worth far more than Dee Gordon.
The Jays need to tear it down. I see no way their “core” can compete next year. For that matter, what is their core? Rebuild, Jays, time it so the squad is refreshed when Guerrero and Bichette arrive. No need to revisit the mediocrity of the Ricciardi years.
Mediocrity is where the Jays are heading under the Shapiro mantra of “longterm competativeness” (and no trading top psorpects to try to win now).
So i guess the sabermetrics really hate dee. That or him being busted for PED last year
This some BS, everyone is in trade talks, EVERYONE is available. If Loria could still get something back from Fernandez he will do it, the guy is worst than Mr. Burns and we Miami fans are Homer Simpsons for him. Dee, Bour, Yelich, Ozuna, Stanton, Realmuto should be untouchable, not even to hear about them. We are not going to do anything by trading them. Wait another 5 years for new talent and a new franchise face to do the same thing again. Give everyone away for pocket change. Loria, the Oprah of baseball for other teams, everyone gets good talent.
i really doubt the marlins move anyone significant until they sell it
and by it i meant the team to a new owner
I’m genuinely curious: who have they moved in the past 3 seasons that has been “giving away” good talent? I can’t recall many trades where they got nothing in return for them.
So explain your plan of how we get pitching and what we do when Ozuna is a FA after next year. Our farm system is trash. Now is our chance to retool around Yelich, Realmuto, and Stanton. Otherwise, we’re looking at having to trade them too after not too long, and with a barren farm system, we will be bad for a long, long time. Open your eyes.
I wish the Pirates would be in on Dee Gordon. That way they could move JHay to third full time since there’s no way you can count on Kang anymore and move Freeze back to the bench/role player that he was signed to be. Sure Frazier, Moroff, or Gift Ngoepe could stand at second but all have differing holes in their games to not be counted on as true MLB starters, at least not yet. Plus with Gordon batting leadoff in front of Marte in the 2 hole for the next few years that’s a ton of speed at the top of the order.
I don’t see why the Royals want to be buyers. They have a farm system in shambles in part to them gutting it through trades.
They have multiple key players leaving for free agency, and probably not enough money to bring all of them back, and will likely be outbid for Hosmer and Moustakas.
I get that they are possibly in contention, but is a playoff run (only a few seasons removed from a championship) that important that they will significantly handicap their franchise for years to come that important?
If I’m Dayton Moore, I actually trade Hosmer and Moustakas, get an amazing return for them, and set my eyes on a small, quick rebuild.
I can’t imagine that Moreno will take another guy who has had issues with PED’s. He got burned with Hamilton. For him to count on a guy who was suspended last year would be crazy.
Wasn’t hamiltons problem cocaine?
Yes
True…but to Moreno, drugs are drugs.
Gary Matthews Jr was PEDS.
$55 million worth.
Angels haven’t had a decent second baseman since they traded Kendrick, I can understand the interest. Asking price would have to be mighty low for the Angels to swing a trade.
who would the marlins want if the angels could get him I wonder?
Anyone is fine by me. Give us an arm, and it’s done in a second, although the angels farm system is similar to the marlins in futility
Dee Gordon for Jaime Barria straight up and the halos take on the contract
I would so do that, as a Marlins fan. If someone wants to overvalue Dee and ask for another lower level guy, that could make sense, but it’s already a good deal for the Marlins while they can get it
then the angels fill a big void left by kendrick, they get a speed guy and a great lead off hitter under control till 2020 I believe.
If anyone wants Dee godon, why is he still here?
Dee hasn’t seen a pitch he didn’t want to swing at. He is also the worst baserunning I’ve ever seen in my life. He’s gotten on base decently this year, but that doesn’t matter when you get thrown out 15 times, either being caught stealing or getting picked off. And that luck factor, and hits with RISP has definitely declined since that 1st ridiculous year. As a Marlins fan, I’d move him to anyone that actually wants him/is willing to pay for him