Orioles quietly offload infield depth in low key trade with Royals

The Orioles had a rough week, losing four of their six games while falling further back in the standings. They now sit 4-6 on the year and are last in the AL East, which isn't an ideal place to be in what should be a competitive division this year.

One unfortunate contributing factor to the Orioles' failures has been their inability to stay healthy. Like last year, the O's are once again fighting the injury bug. They'll be without Colton Cowser and Grayson Rodriguez for an extended stretch, Andrew Kittredge won't return until late May, and Jorge Mateo has looked awful at the plate in his return from major elbow surgery.

Despite the injury issues, the Orioles shipped out one of their recently acquired infield depth pieces in a trade on Sunday afternoon. Just before taking the field in Kansas City, Mike Elias and the Orioles made a deal with those same Royals to send infielder Nick Gordon to Kansas City in exchange for the ever-valuable cash considerations.

Orioles trade infielder Nick Gordon to the Royals for cash considerations

Gordon wasn't long in the Orioles' organization. He was signed this past winter on a minor league deal after spending the prior season in Miami with the Marlins. Gordon had a rough spring, hitting .107/.167/.143 in 30 plate appearances. He had some success at the major league level with the Twins back in 2022 but he's never been a big offensive contributor. His main asset is the infield defense.

Despite Gordon's shortcomings during the spring, the Orioles sent him to Triple-A Norfolk to start the year. He looked fine in some limited playing time, notching 4 hits and a walk in 14 plate appearances, and adding 4 runs scored for the Tides. That performance was encouraging enough for the Orioles to draw some interest in him, and they were able to line up a deal and get some cash value back.

It's not likely that Gordon will be a serious addition for the Royals in 2025. Kansas City added infielder Jonathan India, who's been playing every day and currently has more walks than strikeouts. They also have Michael Massey at second base, a post-hype guy who was good for them in an extended run last summer.

Barring injury, Gordon will spend most of the year at Triple-A Omaha. To be fair, the path to playing time in Baltimore would have been similar. Gordon was behind a number of guys on the depth chart here, so taking the opportunity to move him while he still had some nominative value probably wasn't a bad idea on Elias' part.