The Minnesota Twins are on the back nine of a lost season. Out of contention since May, they just traded their best starting pitcher. Nobody wants to admit it, but they have initiated a rebuild. With that in mind, their goal over the final two months should be to see what they have in the players who they feel are part of their future.
But on Thursday, the Twins decided to send down Nick Gordon to make room for Rob Refsnyder, who was coming off the injured list. Rocco Baldelli told reporters that Gordon was sent down to get consistent playing time, but what keeps that from happening in the big leagues?
Gordon was the fifth-overall pick in the 2014 MLB Draft but has fallen short of expectations and was selected by a different regime. The 25-year-old battled injuries and illness throughout his time in the Twins’ organization and missed last season completely after contracting COVID-19.
But Gordon looks like a different player this season. In 11 games at Triple-A, Gordon hit .308/.372/.436 with a home run and a triple before a rash of injuries forced the Twins to call him up. Even with the major league club, the Twins were hesitant to play him until they needed help at other positions.
Gordon adapted and became a utility player, spending time at center field and second base. Still, he has only played two games at shortstop, his natural position, because the Twins have continued to start Andrelton Simmons there.
Simmons was signed to bolster the Twins’ defense, and he’s lived up to that billing with 13 outs above average this season (third among MLB shortstops). But the Twins also expected that he could be an average hitter at the plate. However, Simmons came into Sunday with a .564 OPS. If the season ended today, Simmons would have the third-lowest OPS by a shortstop in Twins history behind Nick Punto (2007) and Zolio Versailles (1967).
If his bat wasn’t a big enough reason to remove him from the lineup, his standing on the team should be. Simmons will be a free agent at the end of the season and will turn 32 on Sept. 4. His off-the-field choices notwithstanding, it’s hard to imagine Simmons is back with the team next season, making it an easier decision to play Gordon.
After seven seasons in the minor leagues, Gordon has nothing to prove. His numbers (.276/.330/.386) don’t jump off the page, but even if he can become a utility player, he provides more value at this stage of his career than Simmons.
However, the Twins see it differently. Another move that could tip their hand is their decision not to trade Michael Pineda at the deadline. Pineda is in a similar situation as Simmons as a player headed toward free agency this winter and may not return to the team. The Twins chose to keep Pineda instead of using a younger pitcher to make starts and gain experience.
Thad Levine was asked why the Twins didn’t trade Pineda, and he responded that the Twins were seeking respectability throughout the final months of the season.
The mentoring part makes sense, but if the Twins were seeking respectability, they should have found it in May. Instead, they seem hellbent on trotting out an outgoing pitcher and a light-hitting shortstop who are on the way out instead of seeing what they have in a former top-five pick.
This would make sense if the Twins were in the middle of a pennant race, but with the team 18 games out of first place, it feels like a desperate act to vindicate an offseason where they failed to be competitive.
Perhaps Simmons collecting a couple of hits at the plate, Pineda throwing a couple of quality starts, and a solid final month from Alexander Colomé could be enough to help those players earn a spot for next year. But the Twins are a team that needs an overhaul, and playing veterans like Simmons isn’t the way to accomplish it.
