Kansas City Royals: Re-Signing Alex Gordon was Right Decision

On January 6th, 2016, the Kansas City Royals signed Alex Gordon to a four-year $72 million deal last offseason. While Gordon didn’t play well in 2016, the Royals absolutely made the right decision to sign him to said contract.

One year ago was when the KC Royals inked Alex Gordon to the biggest contract in franchise history. Before he signed the deal, it seemed slim that the two would agree to a new deal and that Gordon would likely be taking his talents to another club.

Fans were devastated thinking about Gordon signing with the St. Louis Cardinals or the Chicago White Sox and not being Forever Royal. He had been with this team for a decade and was apart of why they had reached the World Series in back-to-back seasons and winning it all in 2015.

On January 6th of last year, however, everyone in Kansas City was ecstatic when the Kansas City Royals and Gordon agreed on a new contract.

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No one cared about the amount of money on Gordon’s deal at the time, but after a season in which the former Husker only batted .220 and struck out a career high 148 times, people won’t be so in love with Gordon if he struggles again in 2017.

Despite the bad year for Alex Gordon in 2016, I still think the Kansas City Royals did the right thing by signing him to this deal. Sure, it was the biggest deal in franchise history, but Gordon IS this franchise.

The KC Royals have been the type of team to never retain their stars. They’ll draft guys who look promising, and then those guys will go off and sign with another team for big bucks. They’ve never had “their guy” stay in town and want to be a member of the Royals long-term.

Even Billy Butler, a guy who loved playing for the Royals, even during the bad years, left for greener pastures (though that one seemed more mutual).

Alex Gordon was “the guy” for KC Royals fans. He grew up a fan of the team, lived not too far from Kansas City (Lincoln is only about a three-hour drive from KC), and genuinely seemed to enjoy playing for the Royals.

Sure, it was the biggest deal in franchise history, but Gordon IS this franchise.

He also took anything that was thrown his way and handled it with grace. Gordon originally played third base, but Dayton Moore elected to move him to the outfield after he was struggling at his original position.

Gordon has been a stud in the outfield since making the transition there years ago. He’s won four Gold Glove Awards (2011-2014) and made it to three All-Star games (2013-2015). Some of the defensive plays he’s made in the past few years have been unbelievable.

What makes the Gordon signing so important was that it shows the rest of the stars on the team that Dayton Moore cares about keeping them in Royal blue. At the end of the season when guys like Danny Duffy, Eric Hosmer, and Mike Moustakas reach the end of their contracts, perhaps they’ll decide to sign a smaller deal in order to stay with a team they know cares about them.

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I also think that Alex Gordon will bounce back in 2017. He needed a full offseason to get healthy and the Royals got an October off for the first time in three years. It was likely put to good use too, and hopefully Gordon will justify the Royals signing him to that big contract a year ago.

What are your feelings on the Alex Gordon contract from last year? Are you still happy with him being a member of the Royals or do you wish the two sides had parted ways?

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