Alex Gordon is back, and not for a victory lap: ‘I want to be part of the next round’
Two-hundred and seven losses the last two years and not a lot of major roster improvements and the Royals have the audacity to talk about competing. It’s a heck of a lift, wildly confident, and we’ll get into the realism of it all later this week.
For now, though, we present perhaps the most interesting piece of evidence for the Royals’ enthusiasm:
The existence of Alex Gordon, back for his 14th season, despite an already fine career that includes a World Series ring and a nice life waiting for him at home in retirement.
It ain’t for the money, either. He’s made $113 million in his career, which is the most by any Kansas City athlete in history (until Patrick Mahomes signs his next contract).
“I don’t know if this is my last year, but I want to be part of the next round,” he said. “I’ve seen it happen and saw how special it was. I can see we already have talent here and all these young guys coming up to help. It’s like it was in the ‘13 and ‘14 years. Hopefully it can happen a little quicker than it did back in the day, but it’s definitely there. It’s a possibility.”
Gordon’s career path has included so many struggles, including a demotion and a position change that branded him a bust to many. Dayton Moore, the Royals’ general manager, has said he’s happier for Gordon’s career than any other he’s been around.
He didn’t have to come back this spring. A lot of guys wouldn’t have, in the same situation. Gordon turned 36 this month. These are the ring-chasing years in a lot of guys’ careers. These are the buy-a-yacht-and-sail-to-the-island-you-bought years in others. Nothing wrong with either of those paths.
But Gordon is back, his $4 million salary less than what he made his third year in arbitration, to hit in the bottom half of a lineup that finished next-to-last in the league in runs on a team that was 42 games out of first place.
Gordon is different. Always has been. Here’s something that’s never been reported before: He offered to defer as much money as the Royals needed if it meant re-signing Eric Hosmer two offseasons ago.
The point is not Gordon’s benevolence. He can pay his bills and his production did not match the four years and $72 million he signed for after 2015. The point is that a man whose actions have shown he wants to win, and win in Kansas City, is here because he thinks that can still happen.
And soon.
“I just want to be helping,” he said.
New owner John Sherman asked Moore how a one-year deal with Gordon would affect the Royals in 2021 and beyond. He was told that Gordon’s presence would block no prospects and his example would help many. New manager Mike Matheny considered Gordon’s return a top priority.
Gordon had his most productive season since the parade in 2019, hitting .266/.345/.396 in 150 games. The numbers put his adjusted OPS at 4 percent under league, and with Gordon’s defense remaining strong and his work serving as an example on a team without a lot of veterans, the Royals see a valuable player.
He’s a different player now. From 2011 to 2015 he was objectively among the best left fielders in baseball. Nobody defended better, he took his walks, and he slugged .450. In the years since, he won three more Gold Gloves but slugged just .366. He’s been less productive than he was in his first four seasons, when production came so rarely that many wrote him off.
Theories abound. He’s not hitting fastballs as well. That’s something scouts are noticing, and it shows up statistically, too. But it’s not that simple. In 2019, for instance, his rates of line drives, barrels, soft contact and hard contact were all in line or even better than his most productive seasons, using information from Statcast and FanGraphs. More production could be coming.
He has made adjustments. Gordon used to smash ground balls into shifts; now he’ll bunt or punch the other way. He used to stay aggressive with two strikes; now he slides his bottom hand up a few inches from the handle and uses a more compact swing to protect the zone. Time waits for no man, and stubbornness serves no one.
Last year, a quarter or so of the way through the season, he decided he’d try to keep his strikeouts under 100. He’d never done that in a full year before. He’s not much for tracking numbers, so he didn’t look at that stat until the last game of the season — and he had exactly 100. His strikeout rate of 15.8 was four points below the league average and easily the best of his career.
“The important thing is not to be under 100,” he said. “It’s to have a badass two-strike approach, where I’m not going to give up. I hate strikeouts. I know that’s part of the game now, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a flare (single) off a two-strike approach, or the shift was on and I punched it that way. Just not giving up.”
Gordon knows exactly what his life will be after baseball. His kids are 9, 6 and 2, and he’ll spend a year or two or more on nothing but being a father and a husband. He’ll cook dinner, help with homework, coach teams, do pickups and dropoffs. It’s a good life, one he lives for a few months every offseason, and one he knows he’ll enjoy full-time when the time comes.
That time can wait, though. At least for now. Gordon has some games to win. This is the time of year for optimism.