Written by RJ Anderson at CBS Sports.com
On Thursday night, the Miami Marlins took the first step in a potential fire sale by moving second baseman Dee Gordon and international bonus pool money to the Seattle Mariners.
While Gordon looks to transition to center field for the Mariners, we decided to evaluate the Marlins’ return — Nick Neidert, Christopher Torres, and Robert Dugger — by asking Rotoworld prospect expert Christopher Crawford for his insight. Remember to follow Crawford on Twitter.
Would you say the Marlins got a legit return for Gordon, or was this a salary dump?
I would say that it’s closer to a salary dump than a legit return, but it’s definitely somewhere in the middle. When healthy, Gordon has shown the ability to be one of the better contact hitters in baseball, and he still has the speed to be among the league leaders in steals. Getting two of the Mariners’ best prospects is certainly a positive, but when you consider that Seattle still has one of the worst groups in the sport, it isn’t saying quite as much as that should.
What’s Nick Neidert’s long-term outlook?
Neidert is a starter, and should be a good one. He has a plus change — some have given it plus-plus grades — and he pounds the zone with four unique pitches that he commands as well as throwing them for strikes. The question is going to be if his 88-92 mph fastball can play up with the change, and if either breaking ball is good enough to miss bats. If it is, he’s a three. If not, he’s a four, but a good, reliable four.
Can Christopher Torres be the Marlins’ shortstop of the future?
Defensively, I don’t think there’s any question Torres can. His actions are excellent, and he has the athleticism and arm strength to be a real asset in the field. Offensively, there’s some question marks here. There’s very little power, and there’s significant contact issues. He does have good speed, however, and with some mechanical adjustments he might make enough contact to have a 50-grade hit tool. He’s definitely interesting, but risky.
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