MLBbro Michael A. Taylor On the Move From Kansas City To Minnesota In Offseason Deal

MLBbro Michael A. Taylor On the Move From Kansas City To Minnesota In Offseason Deal

In offseason baseball news, World Series champion and outfielder Michael A. Taylor has been traded by the Kansas City Royals to the Minnesota Twins for pitching prospects Evan Sisk and Steven Cruz. This will be the third team for the World Series champion. He played the last two seasons with the Royals after seven with the Washington Nationals.

 

 

While being widely known as an immaculate defensive player, his .254/.313/.357 hitting slash with nine home runs and 43 RBI last season shows that his offense will be helpful for the Twins as well next year. MLBbro.com was monitoring his improvement on the offensive side last year starting with a hot start on opening day as MLBro.com content writer Malik Wright covers here… 

 

 

Taylor is primarily a center fielder and a smart investment plan to back up fellow MLBbro Byron Buxton whose injuries have hampered him to the point that he has not played more than 92 games but once in his career. Michael A. Taylor’s presence will play a big part in the franchise’s overall resting program for Buxton which brought criticism from the fans last season.

 

Michael A. Taylor An All-Around Player

Taylor came into his own on offense back in 2017, hitting .271 with 19 dingers, knocking in 53 runs with an impressive OPS of .806. But his 2021 Gold Glove winning efforts gives Minnesota three outfielders on the roster with Gold Glove awards in Byron “Big Bux” Buxton (2017) and Joey Gallo (2020 and 2021).

Even though, reports consider Taylor a fourth outfielder and insurance policy for Buxton, we should see him plenty next season. He’s too good for the Twins to waste him on the bench. His ability to get a good read and jump on balls and be able to climb walls to rob extra base hits and homers placed him in the top five outfield assists in the AL during his time in Kansas City over two years.

 

 

The Minnesota Twins have acquired maybe the best under the radar acquisition so far this offseason.   

Nick Gordon Is Officially The Byron Buxton Insurance Policy

Nick Gordon Is Officially The Byron Buxton Insurance Policy

Nick Gordon is more than a gadget player for the Minnesota Twins.  He held it down in the outfield during Byron Buxton’s absence and put on a show while doing it.

The Twins selected Nick Gordon fifth overall in the 2014 MLB Draft and although it took some time, he has finally become an impact player at the Major League level.

Gordon, who was brought up as a middle infielder, was thrown into the fire during his rookie season in 2021 after the Twins squad was decimated with injuries earlier in the year. He was forced to spend a lot of his time in the outfield, particularly in center, while sporting a .240 average with 10 stolen bases in over 200 plate appearances.

This year he made the Opening Day roster for the first time in his career and again his role with the team changed just a few games into the season when his fellow MLBbro teammate Byron Buxton suffered a leg injury that kept him out for about a week.

In his absence, Gordon got the chance to take over Buxton’s home in center field once again and made the most of it with a few highlight plays.

Last Thursday Gordon made a perfect throw on a fly ball to center field to gun a runner out at home to keep his teams shutout going.  He has natural talent and all you have to look at is the ease he used when making that throw.

Gordon is a second-generation Big Leaguer as his father Tom “Flash” Gordon pitched 21 seasons with eight different teams.  In 1998-1999 he set what was then a record with 54 converted saves in a row.

His half-brother Dee-Strange Gordon is a two-time All-Star and won both the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards for the Miami Marlins back in 2015 after being a part of a few fun Dodger teams led by Matt Kemp.

Expectations for Gordon were high even before he was drafted. He was named the 2013 Gatorade National Player of the year as a junior in high school where he saw success as a two-way player.

This season people hope those abilities show at the game’s highest level, not only on the defensive side but in the batter’s box as well.

Gordon got off to a slow start, but over his last seven games has a .267 average with a .400 slugging percentage and a triple, one more than he had all of 2021.

With Byron Buxton returning from injury this weekend and already being back in prime form (judging from his 4-4 day at the plate Saturday including two home runs and a double and then his game-winning three-run blast on Sunday against the Chicago White Sox) Gordon may see a little less time in center. But with the versatility Gordon brings on the defensive side, he will be able to give Buxton a few rest days here and there, in order to stay healthy for this marathon of the season.

Dave Winfield  | The Twin Cities’ Greatest Athlete

Dave Winfield | The Twin Cities’ Greatest Athlete


 

By Devon POV Mason | Contributor 

 

David Mark Winfield was born in the Rondo Community of St. Paul, MN. He’s one of the greatest five-tool baseball forces the game has ever seen.

 

 

He attended St. Paul Central High School Adams earned a scholarship to the University of Minnesota.

There he starred in both basketball and baseball for his hometown Gophers.

After hitting and pitching the Gophers to the College World Series in 1973, he was drafted by the San Diego Padres (MLB), Minnesota Vikings (He didn’t even play college football),  the Atlanta Hawks (NBA), and the Utah Stars of the (ABA).

 

 

He is one of only two men to be drafted by three different professional sports. Winfield chose baseball and gained another distinction when the Padres promoted him directly to the Major Leagues.

This rare move in modern baseball made him one of a select few players since the origins of the amateur draft in 1965 to make the leap straight to Major League Baseball without playing in the minors leagues first. But Winfield proves up to the task, batting .277 in 56 games.

 

For the next several years, e gradually increased his power and hits. In 1979 he went from good to great, when he batted .308 with 34 home runs and 118 RBI. He then played one more season with the Padres before becoming a free agent.

In 1981, Winfield made headlines by signing a 10-year $23 million contract with the New York Yankees, a deal which made him the highest-paid in MLB at the time.

 

 

Winfield was one of the best players in the game throughout the life of the contract. He helped the Yankees to the 1981 American League Pennant, but then had a poor showing in the World Series, a six game loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

He bounced back in 1982 with a spectacular season hitting 37 home runs. He batted .340 in 1984, which was the second highest average in MLB, behind teammate Don Mattingly.  Between 1982 and 1988 he drove in 744 runs, won five Gold Gloves, and was named to the All-Star Game every season.

On August 4, 1983, Winfield, while warming up accidentally killed a seagull with a thrown ball. Following the game he was brought to the Ontario Provincial Police station on charges of animal cruelty and forced to post $500 bond before being released.

 

 

For years, following this incident Winfield’s appearances in Toronto entailed loud choruses of boos, but he later became a fan favorite with his championship leadership.

In 1989, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner was suspended from running the club following his connections to a gambler, whom he’d paid to find embarrassing information on Winfield. That year was no better for Winfield as he sat out due to injury. The following season he was traded to the California Angels, and although he was in his late 30’s, Winfield was still a productive hitter.

In 1992, he signed with the Toronto Blue Jays as their designated hitter, and batted a potent .296 with 26 homers and 108 RBI. The Blue Jays won the pennant, giving Winfield a shot at redemption after unfairly being labeled “Mr. May” by Steinbrenner during his Yankees tenure for past World Series failures.

In Game 6 of the World Series, he delivered with a game and championship winning two-run double to win the Fall Classic for the Blue Jays.

 

 

He then spent 1993 and ‘94 wit the hometown Minnesota Twins, where he achieved the 3000 hit plateau. He ended his playing career in Cleveland with the Indians.

Winfield retired in 1995 and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001, in his first year of eligibility.

He became the first player to choose to go into Cooperstown as a San Diego Padre, a move that reportedly irked Steinbrenner so much he tried to get the Hall of Fame to change its rules that did not allow the inductee to choose their team.

 

 

Dave Winfield is the best professional athlete to come from the state of Minnesota.

Yet he has another passion in which he has supported for 30 years; supporting the educational advances of young Blacks in his hometown of St Paul. The “Winfield Student-Athlete” annual awards are given out each June to 12 deserving boys and girls.

It recognizes and supports their academic choices to SOAR after leaving high school.

 

 

He’s also written two books: “Dropping The Ball: Baseball’s Troubles and How We and Must Solve Them” (2007) and “Making The Play: How to Get the Best of Baseball Back” (2008).