Utilityman Nick Gordon has lost his arbitration hearing against the Twins, according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. He’ll receive a $900K salary in 2024 after filing at $1.25MM. MLBTR Contributor Matt Swartz projected Gordon for a $1MM salary in arbitration this winter, though arbiters have to pick between the numbers filed by player and team and cannot choose a midpoint figure.
Gordon, 28, qualified for arbitration for the first time in his career this offseason as a Super Two player. The top 22% of players with between two and three years of service time are given Super Two status, which grants them an additional year of arbitration eligibility. The 28-year-old’s first trip through arbitration this winter comes on the heels of a lost season in 2023 where Gordon did not appear in the majors after May 17 due to a fractured shin he sustained after fouling a ball off his leg during that day’s game against the Dodgers. Gordon struggled to a .176/.185/.319 slash line during his 34-game stint with the club last season, though he had begun to heat up somewhat with an .805 OPS and six extra base hits in his previous 15 games entering the day of the injury.
The lost season in 2023 belies the breakout season Gordon enjoyed in 2022. After being selected fifth overall in the 2014 draft, Gordon was a mainstay on top prospect lists for several years but stalled out at the Triple-A level in 2018, where he’d remain until getting his first crack at a major league role in 2021. While Gordon’s numbers in a bench role that season were hardly eye-opening, he nonetheless entered the 2022 campaign as a member of the club’s Opening Day roster. Gordon opened the season as a part-time player who mainly played left and center field, but eventually grew into more of a regular role with the club after slashing .302/.348/.535 across a 31-game stretch from late May until early July.
After that hot stretch, Gordon fell back to Earth a bit as he slashed a decent .266/.315/.425 the rest of the way. Those solid numbers coincided with a noticeable bump in playing time; while Gordon started just 55 of the club’s 94 contests prior to the All Star break, he drew 58 starts across the 69 regular season games the club played following the break. Altogether, Gordon stepped to the plate 443 times in 2022 while appearing at every position on the diamond except for first base and catcher. In doing so, the switch-hitter slashed a respectable .272/.316/.427 that was good for a 111 wRC+.
Turning back to the coming campaign, the Twins will enjoy some short-term savings on Gordon’s 2024 salary, while the utilityman will face somewhat reduced earning power in future trips through arbitration due to the lower starting point being used as a base for raises in future trips through arbitration, which he is slated to go through three more times before he’s schedule to hit free agency following the 2027 season. Updates on Gordon’s health were relatively few and far between throughout the 2023 campaign after he was placed on the 60-day injured list back in May, but he figures to be ready for Spring Training and enter the season on the club’s bench alongside the likes of Kyle Farmer and Willi Castro.
Gordon’s hearing was the only one scheduled for the Twins this winter, though six more cases are slated to be heard around the league next week. Of course, some of the players and clubs remaining could agree to a deal to avoid a hearing entirely, as Adolis Garcia and Jonathan India did earlier this week with the Rangers and Reds, respectively. While most clubs operate under a “file and trial” system where they don’t hold contract discussions after last month’s deadline to file salary figures for the 2024 campaign, that moratorium on negotiations typically doesn’t apply to multi-year deals like the two-year pacts India and Garcia both signed. Players have enjoyed some considerable collective success to this point in the process, winning seven of the ten hearings that have taken place to this point.
.503 OPS is a hard thing to overcome, I’d imagine.
Lost in a “flash”
I’m sure it was an interesting case because Gordon’s team was undoubtedly arguing advanced metrics which showed he was very unlucky, and the argument about the injury robbing him of a chance to get more plate appearances, and stuff.
He had a rough 2023 season, would’ve won his arbitration case if he had put up similar numbers to his 2022 season though.
He’d have been offered/filed at a lot more than $1.25MM had he repeated 2022’s season at the plate.
Good he sucks
900k to be horrific at your job
The Twins have enough utility players, I would have designated him for assignment. He’s not going to be a super star.
The question isn’t whether or not Gordon will be a “super star” it’s whether or not he’ll be a cheap solid player. Gordon has more upside than Kyle Farmer, who is getting $6MM this year.
Good. Greedy players always seem to win against the poor billionaire owners!
GREAT FOR BASEBALL
A bench player who won’t play much. Non story
Thats right. Never underestimate this stadium and this team and this fanbase and this ownership group.
I thought Kyle Farmer was a FA. Anyone know for sure?
The Twins retained him instead of non-tendering him. He’s still in the Twins organization on a $6-point-something million dollar salary for 2024.
He’s also got a mutual option for 2025.
I guess Farmer is still on the 25 man roster.
Evidently Nick is the worst ball player of the Gordon lineage.
Mason.
Free Mason
Why even fight what they are giving you? Between being hurt and not that great of a player to start with, take the money and have fun playing the game.
THisIs a freaking crime scene
Just another complete bust out of the 1st round of the 2014 draft. Only players that have truly panned out from that round have been Trea Turner and Matt Chapman.
Rodon, Schwarber, Conforto and Nola haven’t exactly been nobody’s.
Making the major leagues is hardly a “bust,” even for 1st rounders.
@ Raining in Kentucky
Are you referring to the Nashville Twins??
DFA Gordon.
Not worth a roster spot IMHO
Should have released him, no impact player
Please get another starter
Thanks for staying with Bally you dumb bells screw your fans
Pollens are worth 3.8 billion what are you thinking ???
Will Gordon even make the team out of Spring?
He’s out of options. He’ll either make the 26 man roster or he’ll be on another team’s 26 man roster because he’ll be claimed.
I batted .176. Now give me more money.
I think they should dfa him, see if they can pass him through waivers. We have Castro and Austin Martin who can do the job better. Then they could use that roster spot to sign a SP like Lorenzen…
Still overpaid. Waste of a 1st round pick
I expected Gordon would lose his bid since his traditional stats looked horrible last year in the short time he had before the hard foul off his shin shut his season down. It’s not like Gordon should be hurting considering his $3.8MM signing bonus as the #5 overall pick in 2015, but he had been treated pretty poorly by the Twins’ front office while simultaneously going through near death illness which dropped his weight below 150lbs at one point.
The former top prospect turned forgotten underdog had a huge breakout he had in 2022 looked sustainable and there was reason to be excited for him and his story in 2023, but a combination of poor luck and his revised swing didn’t pan out.
By all account’s he’s an outstanding and energetic team mate, and there’s plenty to be optimistic about in his game, but there are just as many red flags. Barring injury to other players, I’m not seeing a clear path to him being on the roster after Spring Training this year, which means he’ll be picked up by another team because he’s cheap with plus side and he can play 2B.