‘Where I belong’: Alex Gordon says he made up his mind last year to return to Royals
A Kansas City Royals veteran left fielder, franchise mainstay, champion and a regional folk hero produced by the cornfields of Nebraska, Alex Gordon knew he wasn’t going to entertain thoughts of playing for any other team or call it quits before he took his uniform off for the last time in September.
Gordon, who turns 36 next month, didn’t let on that his mind had been made up. Contract aside, Gordon’s decision came down to if he thought he could still play at a high level and if he felt like he was wanted and still a valuable contributor to the Royals.
Ultimately, the decision came fairly easily. He had a “quick conversation” with general manager Dayton Moore before a game late last season and made his mind up that he’d return for a 14th season to the franchise “where I belong,” as Gordon described it Friday in a news conference during Royals FanFest at Bartle Hall.
“I’ve been pretty fortunate to play with one team my whole career and lucky to do that,” Gordon said. “Not only lucky to do that, but just play under (Moore) my whole career. I’m pretty fortunate to have Dayton Moore as my boss.
“There’s nobody better in the game, as far as a GM, as far as treating people the right way and handling his business the right way. It means a lot to come back to the Royals but also to come back to him.”
Gordon, a seven-time Gold Glove winner and three-time All-Star, became a free agent in November when the Royals, as expected, declined the $23 million mutual option on the remaining year of his contract.
Wednesday, Gordon signed a one-year deal to stay with the Royals. The deal is worth $4 million, per a source, and Gordon also waived his 10-and-5 rights, which would’ve allowed him to veto any trade. Moore downplayed the idea that the team would trade Gordon, and spoke of the clause as allowing the sides to look at options that benefit Gordon if the time comes.
Gordon professed his desire to remain with the Royals for the rest of his career.
“He is and remains one of the most admired players in Royals history, in my opinion,” Moore said. “He’s somebody that is forever a part of our great history. … We’re so fortunate to be able to make this day happen. It’s not only important for our baseball operations department, it’s important for our entire community.”
Gordon wouldn’t designate this season as his last, leaving the door open that he may want to play beyond 2020, particularly if the club got back to the winning ways of previous years.
He said a big piece of his decision included the fact that he believes the team will be in position to win soon and it’s better than it has performed in the last two 100-loss seasons.
Nagging injuries that limited Gordon’s play in 2017 and 2018 really pushed him closer to retirement, mentally, but he made adjustments mechanically and to his daily routine that have paid dividends.
“In ‘18 I just kind of took a step back and tried to find myself again, and I felt like I did,” Gordon said. “Just being more athletic and focusing more on my baseball skills than anything else. That went into training, how I prepared myself for a game, it completely changed the way I looked at things.”
With Gordon in left field, that likely assures Whit Merrifield as the primary center fielder and Hunter Dozier and Jorge Soler getting the bulk of the time in right field. Though Dozier may still play third and first, and Soler figures to serve primarily as a designated hitter.
“I think once you start getting all these outside influences in your ears and lots of pulls and plenty of reason to maybe go somewhere else, for Alex to stay here I think says, first of all, a lot about the man,” first-year Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “I think it says a lot about this fan base. It says a lot about the community and his family. Everybody having the same heartbeat, that this is a special place for them to be.”
This story was originally published January 24, 2020 at 4:39 PM.
