MIAMI – The Miami Marlins today announced that the club has acquired outfielder/infielder Nick Gordon from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for left-handed reliever Steven Okert.
Gordon, 28, owns a career .250 batting average (174×696) in 243 games played with Minnesota from 2021-23, including a breakout season in 2022 where he hit 28 doubles, four triples, nine home runs, and 50 RBI while slashing .272/.316/.427 (110×405) in 136 games. In 2023, Gordon played in just 34 games before being sidelined for the year with a right tibia fracture that he suffered in May.
The utility player from Avon Park, Fla. has played 560.0 innings in center field (66 starts), 528.0 innings in left field (58 starts), 431.0 innings at second base (50 starts), 155.2 innings at shortstop (15 starts), 6.0 innings at third base, and 3.0 innings at right field, while posting a combined .978 fielding percentage (12 E/1687.1 innings).
Gordon was originally selected in the first round (fifth overall) in the 2014 First-Year Player Draft by Minnesota out of Olympia High School in Orlando, Fla. Earlier that year, he was named the fifth-best prospect in the 2014 Draft by MLB.com, and the ‘Best Infield Arm’ and sixth-best prospect by Baseball America. The former top prospect is the son of three-time All-Star pitcher Tom “Flash” Gordon and half-brother of former Marlins infielder Dee Strange-Gordon.
Okert, 32, went 3-2 with a 4.45 ERA (29 ER/58.2 IP) in 64 relief appearances last season with the Marlins. The left-hander owns a 12-9 record with a 3.70 ERA (80 ER/194.1 IP) in six Major League seasons with San Francisco (2016-18) and Miami (2021-23).
The Marlins, who are coming off the club’s fourth Postseason appearance and first in a full season since 2003, begin the 2024 season at home on March 28 vs. the Pittsburgh Pirates.
