There has been some indication that Royals outfielder Alex Gordon might hang up his spikes at the end of the year, but his hot start has him leaning in the other direction. The veteran tells MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan that he’s “at about 60-40” in favor of continuing his career past the 2019 season.
Gordon is all but certain to be a free agent at the end of the year after earning $20MM in the final guaranteed season of his contract. The deal comes with a $23MM mutual option and $4MM buyout. It’s all but unfathomable that the Kansas City organization will pony up the extra $19MM, even with Gordon in the midst of a revival.
There’s an argument to be made that the Royals ought to be preparing to deal away Gordon, even if it means paying down much of the remainder of the deal. The 35-year-old’s renaissance after three poor campaigns at the plate is increasingly believable. He’s swinging at and making contact on pitches in the zone more than ever before, leading to a career-low 12.8% strikeout rate.
Gordon’s power output will likely shrink once his 17.4% HR/FB rate comes back to earth, but it’s now plausible to view him once more as a solid hitter, good defender, and quality clubhouse presence of the sort that many contenders would love to have. He isn’t suddenly a premium market asset. But in the midst of this Nick Markakis act, Gordon would be of clear interest even with some anticipated regression.
Trouble is, Gordon has 10-and-5 rights, meaning he can veto any deal. And it doesn’t sound as if he has the slightest bit of interest in a swap. (Neither is it clear that the Royals would be so inclined, particularly given that they’re actually putting out word that they think they can make a run at a Wild Card.)
“I don’t want to play anywhere else,” says Gordon. “Yeah, I want to retire as a Royal. I’ve established my family here with my kids. This is home.”
That probably settles that so far as a mid-season trade is concerned. But what of the future? That same commitment could well set up an ongoing relationship with the Royals. GM Dayton Moore wouldn’t weigh in on that possibility, but it wouldn’t be terribly surprising to see the sides line up on a deal to keep things going. It’s arguable that the team should save its plate appearances for younger players, but every team needs its veterans and this one has managed to find roster spots for questionably suited fits in Lucas Duda and Terrance Gore.
This guy’s rookie cards were super high when he was coming up reminded me off Canseco’s rookie card value when he first came up.
I bought Canseco’s damn rookie card for $44 back in the day…great investment.
I bought 6 Michael Jordan Fleer rookie cards for $10 and a Wade Boggs rookie. I could just about buy a new car with those today but my brother traded them for comic books from the 90’s.
I can’t wait til that clown comes back on here and suggest he’d rather not leave the Royals in a trade to a playoff team because he’d rather watch Scott Frost revitalize the Cornhusker football program on TV in October.
Basically Alex confirmed today what I’ve been saying for three weeks every time his name comes up in trade rumors. I don’t disagree that it might make sense to, but Dayton Moore won’t trade him and Alex won’t approve a trade even if he did.
That said, as a certified Kool-Aid drinking Royals fan of 30 years, even I laughed out loud at the wild card comment when Ned made it the other day.
I wonder if ned has looked at Chris owings stats & still thinks we could get a wild card? We’d have to go undefeated in June AND July just to get to 500.
Clown? I happen to know alex Gordon loves Nebraska sports. And when he’s ready to hang up his cleats, he will likely be driving to Lincoln with his boys to enjoy a football game at memorial stadium during football season.
The Royals think they can make a run at a wild card spot!!??
Now that’s confidence!
Delusional, but confident…..
No, it’s dayton that is delusional. Even if we HAD the pitching & the hitting, it’s definitely unrealistic THIS season. Maybe next year, but Dayton likes signing guys like owings & Duda, so maybe I should say 2021, which would be the last year of the contracts for Duffy & Salvy .
+1
Ik my halos got slim to no odds and our odds are a millions times better than KC. I thought it was a joke when I read it.
Royals have seen two WS and One Title in this decade. Talk all you want, their fans still get to sport some fresh WS gear and have recent memories. Your rally monkey has been collecting dust in the back of your closet for close to 20 years.
Hard to believe he is 35 now. I remember the George Brett comparisons when he was first coming up lol. He’s had quite the up and down career
Gordon is laughing with you, all the way to the bank.
…..Are you 12 years old?
11 and a half actually
I think Gordon can still play a few more years. No spike hanging as of yet.
He could, but he’s said all along he’s not going to go chase any opportunity to play just to keep the ghost alive. I also doubt that money will be much of a factor in his decision.
He’s certainly had an interesting career. Top five draft pick, injuries and demotions, a position switch that made him one of the worst fielders to one of the best, the initial losing to winning a championship, the All-Star seasons. Might be forgotten everywhere outside of Kansas City in 30-40 years, but a fulfilling career in almost every way possible.
You have to be inner circle to be remembered past retirement. The ring and $100M+ over his career will definitely help.
Sadly for him, even with his background and talent, he won’t be getting more than $2M a year from here on out. Depends if he wants to take a paycut that big.
Even if the royals tried to trade him, I can’t see any team giving up much for him. He’s 35 and who knows how long he’ll play for. As a royals fan, I wouldn’t mind seeing a trade and getting something good in return, but I’m not holding my breath.
it’s funny. i remember when gordon signed his deal, the then governor of kansas thought he’d use it to get in a dig at california, then it blew up in face because:
1. the royals don’t actually play in kansas
and 2. alex lives in nebraska.
sadly, like with pretty much all horrible republican politicians, he managed to fail his way up (while leaving his state pretty much a 3rd world country).
but hey, why actually help people, right?
Oh yes because all Democrat politicians are so great. /s
Ever hear about Chicago or Detroit and how they were run into the ground by Democrats?
Arguing over with side of the circular firing squad that is American politics is dumber is an argument that won’t make anyone feel better, so why don’t we stick to baseball here?
Umm.. I live in San Francisco. Democrats… strong leftwing liberals run the city. Our education system, homeless issues, ughhh that’s jus for starters… they make the Orioles look like a well run organization. No offense Baltimore fans. Back to sports.
Alex has two homes – full time house in Kansas City, Kansas area & a house in Lincoln. His mother still lives in Lincoln & his in laws are from Nebraska, so he’s been back to Lincoln a lot, if his boys weren’t in school full time, he’d likely live in Nebraska in the off season. The training facility for baseball & softball on the UNL campus is named after him.