Royals icon Alex Gordon is set to announce his retirement after a 14-year career at the Major League level, reports Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com (via Twitter). The club has confirmed Gordon’s retirement. He’ll play out the remainder of the current season before formally calling it a career.
Now 36 years old, Gordon was the No. 2 overall pick by the Royals back in 2005. He spent his entire professional career in the organization, helping to stoke a baseball renaissance in Kansas City as the Royals appeared in back-to-back World Series, including their 2015 victory.
Long before Gordon was the face of the franchise, however, he was perhaps the poster child for not giving up on a top prospect after early struggles. Gordon spent just one full season in the minors before arriving in the big leagues with outlandishly high expectations in 2007. He put together a pair of solid but unspectacular seasons as the Royals’ third baseman in 2007-08 before a pair of injury-ruined campaigns in 2009-10 caused many to write the once-promising talent off at just 26 years of age. Struggles at third base had prompted the Royals to move Gordon to left field, and his .222/.319/.365 slash line in those two seasons certainly didn’t look like the savior for which Royals fans had pined after more than a decade of mediocrity.
That feels like an eternity ago, and it’s entirely due to Gordon’s remarkable mid-20s turnaround. Healthy in 2011, Gordon erupted with a .303/.376/.502 batting line, strong baserunning skills and elite left-field defense that netted him the first of an eventual seven Gold Glove Awards. From 2011-15, Gordon batted .281/.359/.450 while making three All-Star Games and totaling 26.4 wins above replacement. His breakout made him the foundational bedrock upon which the team’s young core could be built up.
Fellow homegrown talents such as Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Salvador Perez, Danny Duffy and Greg Holland joined trade acquisitions Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar, James Shields and Wade Davis (among others) in fueling a brief but brilliant peak for GM Dayton Moore’s club. After a near-miss versus the 2014 Giants, the 2015 Royals ended a three-decade World Series drought. While Gordon’s overall postseason numbers — .222/.333/.398 — don’t stand out as dominant, the Royals may not have had a trophy to celebrate without his one-out, game-tying home run against Jeurys Familia in the bottom of the ninth of 2015’s Game 1 (video link).
Gordon’s breakout and the team’s revenue boost from consecutive World Series showings gave now-former owner David Glass the financial comfort to offer the three-time All-Star a franchise-record contract valued at four years and $72MM. That arrangement spanned the 2016-19 seasons, and while Gordon mulled retirement this time last year, he ultimately opted to return for one final go-around.
Certainly, Gordon wasn’t planning on doing so in the absence of the fans who hold him so dear in their hearts, but one can certainly imagine ample future opportunities for the K.C. faithful to express their gratitude. Teammate Whit Merrifield has already suggested that it’s “time to build the statue” on Instagram, and it seems there’s a good chance that Gordon will be the last Royal to ever don No. 4.
With four games yet to play, we can’t be sure of the exact totals Gordon will carry into retirement, but his overall body of work is strong. In 7237 plate appearances, all with the Royals, he’s a .257/.338/.411 hitter with 190 home runs, 113 stolen bases, 357 doubles, 26 triples, 867 runs scored and 749 runs batted in. Since he became a full-time outfielder in 2011, Gordon has the fourth-most Defensive Runs Saved of any Major League player, regardless of position, with 112.
All told, Gordon’s career has been worth 35 wins above replacement, per Baseball-Reference, although his value to the organization’s fans and the teammates who’ve followed his lead over the course of his career transcend that number. Gordon earned more than $117MM in his 14 MLB seasons and, along the way, cemented himself as a legend within the franchise’s lore — one who’ll be celebrated in Kansas City alongside greats like George Brett and Frank White for decades to come.
had an amazing career, enjoy retirement goat
Amazingly league average most years
He had a good four-year stretch but other than that, yeah.
I think a lot of guys would kill for a career that **only** includes a 5-year stretch of elite defense, above-average offense, two pennants and a ring.
@TLB2000:
No doubt.
Sounds like brett gardner
You don’t often hear great career with “5-year stretch of elite defense” as the main notch in someone’s belt.
He was a good player but not a star. In fact, on some teams he may of even have been relegated to a bench role.
Winning the big one if, of course, the most important thing.
5 year stretch of above average offense, the elite defense stretch was much longer. Apologies for the dangling modifier.
Brett Gardner’s career high in OPS+ was 120, Alex Gordon has 9 seasons with an OPS+ greater than 120. So ya basically the same.
Also while Gardner does have a ring it was very early in his career and he was 0-10 on the WS so I’m not sure you can really use that to compare him to Gordo.
Nobody’s saying Alex Gordon belongs in the hall of fame or even on the fringe of hall of fame discussion, but he was more than just a replacement level player.
@TLB: Gordon had two seasons with OPS+ over 120. His career OPS+ is 102. Gardner’s career OPS+ is 101.
Why did I tbi k of Jason Heyward when I read this?
I tbi k of Jason Heyward often.
and amazingly 117 mil in the bank
One heckuva defensive left fielder
One of baseball’s most overrated players—even taking into account a good glove.
Good, sure. Amazing? No. Goat? OMFG No.
In the current era? Maybe.. between Perez and him..
Perennial White Sox killer!
I hope he enjoys his retirement!
Most successful player ever in MLB to be born and raised in Lincoln NE. Lots of Royals fans in Nebraska due to its close proximity. I remember listening to games on the radio when George Brett was still playing myself. Not many players play a dozen plus years with only 1 team anymore.
Goat? Hardly
No offense, but GOAT? At what?
Too bad KC fans couldn’t send him off in person. Maybe he gets a jersey number retirement ceremony in 2021
I thunk the same thing… Hope he gets a proper sendoff in KC. Both he and the fans have earned that.
hopefully so. he’s done a lot for that franchise and I don’t think anyone could imagine him in any other uni.
Maybe they can make a bunch of masks out of his jerseys and mail them to fans
Why would you want to make a mask out of a jersey. that’s stupid. I’m just glad I was able to buy a gordon Jersey before this year’s decision to put the stupid Nike swoosh on them.
Can he become MLB Commissioner now?
Went from a potential bust as a 3rd baseman to a 7 time gold glover in the OF. That is some impressive persistence.
how’s Franco’s defense this year? always thought he had a good arm when he was in Phillie. maybe he can be a LF?
Franco’s a free agent after this season and I don’t think he’ll be staying with the Royals given how good he’s been this season.
He has one more arbitration year and shouldn’t get a huge raise from his $2.95 million this year. They’d be crazy not to bring him back.
That makes things even better. Maybe the team could get something for him.
Actually I believe the Royals have control of him in the 2021 season
Eh. Makes some really good plays but also boots some balls I feel like he should make.
Personally I’d like to shop Franco in the offseason and let Bobby Witt, Jr play third. If he doesn’t pan out, we can move Dozier back over there.
Bobby with JR. still needs to have a real minor-league season because the only games he’s played in the minor leagues was Arizona rookie league in 2019 after he was drafted. He’ll need to at least play 1 to 2 years. Even Mike Trout (the current GOAT), Played at least 70 games in AA before he was called up for his major league debut.
Gordon struggled a bit this year and I wish he could have had a little stronger send off into the sunset. All said, great career and great story reinventing himself from a mediocre 3B to a all-world defensive outfielder. Congrats Gordo.
Not related, but DeRo gave a shoutout to the website on MLB Central this morning. Pretty cool.
Good career, but if I am being honest, I think it might be overblown since he stayed with one team. He had a really good 4 year run, but the rest of career was mostly below average. But the longevity with one team is definitely something to be admired, especially nowadays.
He has 3 years of negative WAR and 11 years of positive WAR. Since a 0 WAR is by definition “average” please explain how he was “below average.”
I agree with your point that he had a well above-average career, but 0 WAR isn’t average. It’s well below average. Zero WAR is a replacement-level player. About 2.0 WAR is considered an average big-league regular.
Understood.
Hello Steve,
I have a question about WAR. We know that 2 WAR is considered roughly MLB-average. Is there a league average for each side of WAR, offense and defense? What would the League Average defensive WAR be? 1.0? Thanks!
TLB, you’re misunderstanding the stat. 0 WAR is replacement level which is decidedly BELOW average. Average would be a tick above 2 WAR for a full season. … oops, I see Steve has already made that point.
I wasn’t claiming he had a bad career by any measure. He had a very good career, better than probably 90% of players of all time. I was trying to temper the thoughts of some of the people claiming he should be in Cooperstown or even have his number retired. According to B/R, Gordon’s closest career comp is Lloyd Moseby. Moseby was a very respectable player for the Jays and Tigers in the 1980s, but no one thought he should be anywhere near a retired number. That being said, Lloyd had a fine career that most ballplayers are envious of. As did Alex Gordon.
Lloyd was terrific, he just fizzled out as soon as he passed 30.
Good! Been a thorn in the Tigers side for those 14 years.
Now it’s Perez and merrifield that are the thorn in their side
Tigers have been rolling in AL Central thorns for years now. Lloyd McClendon is our current largest thorn (again).
Next time KC wins a WS is when this guy is the manager.
I second that. Hopefully, for Royals fans, it’s sooner than we think.
Would be cool, but I don’t think he wants it. I could see him being perfectly content to take his $100m and go be a dad and a husband for the next 15 years.
He said he plans to “follow the team while sitting on my couch drinking a beer” in his retirement.
And I would bet he would drive up to Lincoln Nebraska occasionally for a Nebraska game like basketball or a football ( if they ever allow fans he’ll be going to one of the football games, Likely the home game after Thanksgiving, because his family is from Nebraska. his mom lives there and his in-laws live there. But for now he’s going to enjoy his family and the time he’s missed over the past years. His boys are already 10 and 7 and his little girl is three.
Not many guys get to spend their whole careers on one team, good job Alex
Love watching him play just for the D. Outstanding outfielder.
the resurgence in 2019 was pretty cool. nice career.
See you in Cooperstown Mr. Gordon
As much as I like him, no.
Do you guys have dinner reservations in Cooperstown or something? Meeting up for a round of golf?
Yamsi1912 – When hell freezes over. You’ve gotta be kidding.
He would an excellent addition to the Royals team Hall of Fame, but he is nowhere close to Cooperstown. He will be one of those guys that gets 1 or 2 votes at the bottom of the ballot as a thank you from a local KC beat writer with a HOF vote.
No he doesn’t have enough for a Cooperstown Hall of Fame but definitely a Royals Hall of Fame. Unless of course he’s in Cooperstown supporting Salvador Perez, but I’m not even sure if Salvy will have a Cooperstown worthy career.
Tickets are $34.95
Awesome, awesome career. Never forget that 2015 WS Game 1 homer to tie the game when Familia quick pitched him.
He was a great player for a 5 year stretch, and he is a World Champion. Played his whole career in KC and along with George Brett is one of the faces of the franchise.
One of my favorite royals. Enjoy life after the show Mr gordon
Similar to another Royal icon from years ago, Frank White. If you look at their career numbers, they don’t really stand out much, but their defensive value and their clubhouse and community leadership and recognition might be off the charts.
Reminds me a little of Trot Nixon, love these kind of ball players. All the best in retirement.
Good luck to Alex and his family. A class act credit to the Royals and our game
The 2015 Royals were an impressively assembled group.
The only legitimately small market team to win a WS in the past 30 years.
The Cards are small if you only look at St. Louis itself, but they have a large footprint and are a top revenue team. The Marlins are probably the closest thing to a small market champion besides the Royals, but Miami is a top ten US market, so they are “small market” by choice.
I agree with your overall thesis about small-market teams, but I’m curious to know why you didn’t include Cincinnati in 1990, Minnesota in 1991, and Arizona in 2001 alongside KC.
Yeah, they should’ve said 28 years instead.
The Cardinals are 19th by market share. The Royals are 23rd. They’re both small market teams.
It’s very hard to get into the MLB let alone stay for 14 years and with one team…….and he made over $117 million. Tip your cap to a solid career and a nice bank account.
Good for him. Won a ring in KC of all places and got to play his whole career there
Talent, class, character, determination and work ethic paired with modesty and humility is a wonderful combination. Many thanks, Alex. Your days with the Royals have been much enjoyed.
“See you in Cooperstown” seems to be a long stretch, but certainly a great career and a hell of a leader. I think that is what is his biggest gift to the game and the Royals over those 14 years is his leadership on the field and in his clubhouse. All you ever heard in those years where the Royals became relevant again was how helpful he was to the prospects being brought up and how he was a manager on the field. Moustakas and Hosmer absolutely loved the guy and both have said they wouldn’t have even sniffed the postseason if not for his skills and him leading the way. 35 wins above replacement is a good number and his batting line was decent, but above all else he led by example and that’s why he’ll get the #4 retired and most likely be a skipper somewhere along the line. But for now as a Tiger fan, good luck in retirement and enjoy. You’ve earned that.
Learn to paragraph your sentences
Thank you professor
Is now a bad time to remind everyone that Alex Gordon would have been out if he tried running home on Crawford’s arm?
Royals fan and I 100% agree. Not just out, out by 10 feet. Then again, Hosmer should’ve been out in Game 5 of the 2015 WS 🙂 But Brandon Crawford and Lucas Duda are not the same.
Brett gardner had a higher WAR than alex Gordon and has played in about 200 less games than gordon .
Amazing how lots of people in baseball treat gordon like a superstar yet never really talk about gardner in the same light
No hate on Gardner from me.
Even Yankee fans don’t like Gardner all that much. He’s the most underrated player I’ve seen recently.
Yes Gardy and Gordon are similar in many categories but Gardner career WAR is higher. Interesting comparison though.
In fairness, it’s not like the Royals have had a ton of good players and it’s even more rare when they have a decent player he plays his entire career in KC.
His career certainly didn’t live up to #2 overall choice.
You sure about that? For every Verlander picked #2 overall, there’s an Adam Johnson
Wow, I just looked through that 2005 draft, to see who was drafted ahead of Gordon, and it was J-Up. But dang, that draft had some serious talent. This is just the big names from the first round:
J-Up
Gordon
Zimmerman
Braun
Ricardo Romero (name I completely forgot)
Maybin
McCutchen
Jay Bruce
Chris Volstad
Cliff Pennington
Jacoby Ellsbury
Matt Garza
Colby Rasmus
That’s a ton of talent, I’m going to look through round 2 and so on.
Here’s the recognizable names from comp A and round 2 picks of 2005:
Comp A:
Chaz Roe
Luke Hochevar
Clay Buchholz
Jed Lowrie
Round 2:
Ivan de Jesus
Travis Wood
Chase Headley
Kevin Slowey
Yunel Escobar
Nick Hundley
And Michael Brantley in the 7th round (truth be told, I feel like Brantley’s career overall has been more impressive than Gordon’s and J Up’s (and Brantley still has some prime years left in him since he was taken out of high school that year).
Michael Lynn (Lance Lynn) was also taken by the Mariners in the 6th round, but he declined for college.
You forgot Troy Tulowitzki who was near the top of that draft as well.
Without a doubt, 2005 is one of the stronger drafts of all time, especially in the first round. It’s one of those drafts where a bad high selection stands out even more because of all the talent available. Jeff Clement of the Mariners at #3 is bad, but when 8 of the 9 players drafted immediately after you accumulated at least 5 career WAR and most of them much more than that, it looks even worse.
Nice career, and it was good to see him win a WS ring in 2015 after thankfully (to all Giants fans) he was stranded at 3rd in 2014.
He did make the transition to the grass. But not to the mound. He has a 19 ERA.
Nice career. Nice player.
It almost feels like yesterday he was playing 3b and wearing #7. One of my favorite Royals of all time. Congrats Gordo!
When he took off in LF, I recall thinking “Is that *that* Alex Gordon?”
Good luck to him in retirement. He should be really proud of his career. God, we’re getting old.
Old is how I feel every time I watch Carl Yastrzemski’s grandson.
Bigtime juicer; heard he prefers carrots over kale.
My favorite kind of player, one who keeps his head down, mouth shut and just plays ball
Remember when he was supposed to be the Next or Better then George Brett! HA
I enjoyed watching him patrol left field. He made more than a few nice plays out there and had a nice arm to back it up.
Nice career. One franchise, playoff success, plenty of money. Hats off to the guy.
They should start him at 3rd base for the last game of the season.
All I can say is it was one helluva ride Gordo!
Good guy.. good ball player..it’s a good move at this point. I’m sure a lot of players will look at him and do the same. Life isn’t about the sport anymore. It’s about life. It’s not driven by numbers and longevity anymore. Thanks for the memories and good luck!
Wish him all the best. From a diehard Yankees fan I was genuinely happy for the city of KC when they won that 2015 WS. I remember having the victory parade on in our office and it was amazing how many fans came out.
Though him and his Royals beat us in 15 , I wish Alex all the best. He played the game hard and was A tremendous Left fielder. Anyone that cabt respect this mans career, I say I dont understand. He was labeled the next George Brett at 3rd, struggled hard, never gave up and worked his butt off to become one of the best Lf in the league, and his offensive stats was not horrible as well. Gl again Mr. Gordon.