Royals Rumors: Alex Gordon not going anywhere

Royals rumors have cooled off and although the team might make one more trade before the deadline, Alex Gordon will not be wearing a different uniform this time next week.

This time last year, any mention of Alex Gordon being a potential trade piece would have been hilarious. The longtime member of the Kansas City Royals was having a rough go of it at the plate in the first three years of his massive contract.

This season has been different though.

Gordon, prior to Tuesday’s game against the Blue Jays, is slashing .285/.358/.444 with 11 home runs and 60 RBI in 383 at bats. He’s still playing stellar defense, which was never a problem during his rough three years at the plate. Defense has always been Gordon’s speciality since he moved to the outfield in 2011.

The Royals rumors attached to Gordon are just that: Rumors.

Gordon, despite his high batting average and incredible defensive play, has 10 and 5 rights, meaning he can veto any trade brought about. Jayson Stark tweeted that teams have been in touch with the Royals about Gordon, but there’s “nothing serious enough to ask Gordon if he’d be willing to waive his trade-veto rights”. 

This isn’t surprising. Even though the Royals are in rebuild mode and probably won’t realistically contend for two more years (probably longer), they can’t be expected to trade everyone under the sun.

Yes, Gordon is a free agent after this year, but he’s expressed interest in returning to the team that drafted him for one last go of it. It makes sense that he wouldn’t want to switch teams considering his family is settled in Kansas City and he’s already won a World Series and been to two during his time as a big leaguer.

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The only other Royal remaining who could potentially be traded is Billy Hamilton, but a .211 batting average doesn’t exactly scream trade bait. Hamilton could be useful in tight games as a pinch runner and he plays good defense, but offensively, he’s not worth much. The Royals wouldn’t get much back in return for his services.

In May, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com published a piece on how Gordon is “leaning toward playing after this year”. A year ago, most Royals fans just wanted to see Gordon go out on a decent note. Now, most are hopeful that he will indeed return to the Royals for 2020 and to continue to be a mentor to the younger guys while also flashing that Gold Glove in left field.

For now, let’s just enjoy the fact that Alex Gordon will more than likely close out 2019 as a member of the Kansas City Royals.