Let's face it: if the Royals aren't going to give Alex Gordon a chance to play regularly when they are 11-21, 10 games out of first, and weeks shy of Memorial Day, he has fallen out of favor with the club. After just 38 plate appearances, the Royals sent Gordon - the player they once selected him second overall - to Triple-A to make way for… Alberto Callaspo.
But Gordon, still just 26, is a career .320/.433/.577 hitter in the minor leagues. Clearly, some team should take a flier on Gordon as a possible long-term answer at third base. Which teams are best suited to do so, and how much is it likely to cost?
- The Phillies seem like an interesting landing spot for Gordon, though not at first blush. Placido Polanco, after all, is signed through 2012. But Gordon could be an upgrade from Greg Dobbs at the very least. If Gordon fulfills his promise, the Phils could attempt to deal Polanco. More to the point, Gordon seems to fit the Phillies' template- his acquisition would be akin to the buy-low on Jayson Werth– and Philadelphia has depth in the farm system. A couple of their secondary pitching prospects could get it done.
- The Orioles have a combined zero homers from Rhyne Hughes and Garrett Atkins, so Gordon could appeal to them as an option at first. Corner infield prospects Brandon Snyder and Josh Bell lurk in the minors, but with Miguel Tejada locked up for just one year, Gordon would provide the O's with depth and upside.
- The Athletics don't have a ton in the way of a present or future player blocking Gordon. Kevin Kouzmanoff is a decent option, but he hardly has Gordon's upside at this point. With a number of nearly-ready pitching prospects to integrate into a young staff, the Athletics could well deal from pitching depth for Gordon, too.
- The Padres are another possible landing spot, with Chase Headley unlikely to keep up his batting average-fueled start. San Diego has several third base prospects, including James Darnell, who Baseball America ranked as the organization's third-best prospect heading into the season. Still, none of the Padres prospects have even proven themselves at Double-A, so acquiring Gordon and giving him the chance to win the third base job wouldn't impact any of them in the short-term. It would also echo the acquisition of another buy-low, former top draft pick: Adrian Gonzalez. A package of one of the Padres' third base prospects and a pitcher should be enough to pry Gordon loose.
Seattle. They hoard LH hitters, have holes at 1B and 3B. They have no real impact bats at AAA, and have pitching prospects to trade.
No Blue Jays?????
Absolutely. Real depth at SP and catcher, an interesting package should be easy. and they have a massive question mark about the position going forward (as much as i love Brad Emaus)
I agree why wouldn’t they have added the jays to this list, since well…the cupboard for 3rd is relatively bare in a short time. I mean bautista? No. To an even lesser extent EE
O’s make a ton of sense. Gordon is exactly the type of player they should be targeting.
Agreed. It makes sense for both Gordon AND the Orioles.
Right now Bell is the future at 3B. And that has always been the plan with Tejada, as a stopgap. So I don’t think he replaces Miguel’s role, as veteran to help soften Bell’s transition to the majors. Though having depth is always good, esp. on a team with a DH, and, another possible opening at 1B, which only increases the opportunity to stay in the majors for Gordon. If he hits Free Agency, he should sign with a team like this.
Blue Jays?
Headley is a former top prospect and is playing better because he finally back at his natural position. Why would they want Gordon over that? Do your research.
Nice right on the money!
the Houston Astros. no prospects (Chris Johnson is NOT a prospect), and no reason to not give him at bats.
Other than the fact that they are a division opponent Minnesota has to be the ideal landing spot for Gordon. The Twins have the depth in the minors to make such a trade and a black hole at third. Danny Valencia is scuffling at AAA and is looking more and more like a MLB benchwarmer as his discipline and defense are being exposed at Rochester. A Rob Delaney/Rene Tonosi for Gordon swap would make sense for both teams
I think the Twins already have decent enough stopgap options at 3B that they should not have to trade anything of any real value to the Royals to get Gordon. Does anyone know much about this Brian Dinkelman the Twins have at AAA? He actually seems like a better option than Valencia at this point.
Division opponent makes it tough but it’d be easy to let Inge walk at the end of the year if the Tigers signed Gordon.
Or traded for, rather than signed. My bad.
I think the Tigers would be a fit. Would the Tigers be willing to part ways with a Casey Crosby, Jeff Larish, and Cale Iorg get him? I dunno how high a prospect (or prospects) would have to go. Austin Jackson, Jacob Turner, and Scott Sizemore are obviously all off limits. Who would it take?
Jays can give him an opportunity to play have have lots of trade chips.
How on earth could you forget the most obvious choice? The Blue Jays. No team has more pitching and they have a hole at third.
I’d say the A’s are right up there with them. I’d love to see oakland trade one of our pitcher’s who can’t crack the MLB roster for him.
Fair enough. I’d like to see them give Kouzmanoff more time, though.
yea i don’t mind kouz but if we can get a more long term replacement i’d be happy… then again i’m so used to prospects prospects prospects, maybe that’s why gordon seems so appealing.
That’s a terrible analysis on the Padres. Well, it wasn’t an analysis. It was calling out Headley on his “batting average” fueled start… What does mean? Isn’t starting off with a high batting average something of a good thing? I love being able to read a post and immediately know it’s not Tim or Ben.
I try not get caught up in the emotion of “my team” when I comment… but I’d just really appreciate reasoning behind a statement like “unlikely to keep up his batting average fueled start”. I know this is a rumors site. But if you’re going to get into analyzing numbers with a statement like that… finish it, please.
Maybe he meant Headley’s high Babip. (.388)
Yeah, a little dangerous, but no Austin Jackson.
It’s not like it’s Yuniesky Betancourt hitting .360. Yes the BABIP has to go down, but I think he’ll finish around .300. He’s also improving on his strikeouts.
To be fair, Gordon was sent down for Chris Getz. It just happened that Callaspo moved from 2B to 3B. So you’re actually giving the Royals far more credit than they deserve. And at least Callaspo has proven he can hit major league pitching consistently, something Gordon has never done. But sending him down for Getz? That’s a far worse move. Shows the wonderful mentality this front office has. Fire Moore, fire Hillman, let’s clean house.
Edit: Upon looking at Gordon’s earlier stats I realized he actually hit adequately, but has regressed.
KC won’t trade him, if for no other reason than to make sure they don’t get burnt by trading him and then him developing. He will probably spend the next couple of seasons bouncing between the majors and minors laying as a 3B/LF utility man before being let go.
While it is kinda crazy that it has come this, don’t mock Callaspo. Albert has put up two seasons worth of great numbers and looks to maintain that this season. His glove may be pretty bad, but there is a chance he will do better at third.
I gotta think the blue Jays make the most sense.
They have an abundance of young pitching that the Royals could use, a couple of catchers and other MI they could throw in. All though, at this point his value must be low with nobody in the front office having ties to him.
an infield that would include Hill Wallace and Gordon and then Snider and Lind would be a nice young team with a future much like the Rays IMO
Alex Gordon for J.R. Towles and low-end pitching prospect?
Phillies need him. Werth is leaving after this year, and Gordon could learn left field. They could shift Ibanez to his natural position (Left), and the Phillies wouldn’t be all lost without Werth.
How about the Angels? Brandon Wood is still struggling and you have to wonder how much longer they will wait on him to adjust to major league pitching.
All of this “analysis”, including the Padres sending over “one of their third base prospects” (ha), and Megdal completely overlooks one of the main reasons Gordon is being moved: Mike Moustakas. It takes five minutes to look through an organization’s depth chart. It’s simple, really.
not sure if you follow the royals on a regular basis or not, but Mouse was another one of Moore’s high first round picks i believe 2nd overall and they don’t know what to do with him. they are talking about making him a catcher just to find a spot for him. They have played him at multiple positions and he can’t play them :/
How about the Rays? If he can handle defense at 3rd, would it be a stretch that he could learn 1st? With Pena gone next year, the Rays are going to have a glaring need at 1st and there’s no one on the horizon to fill it.
Alex Gordon with the Dodgers would be interesting. This is probably Casey Blake’s last year and the Dodgers have no real successor at 3rd unless they move DeWitt back to 3rd next year. While I like DeWitt, he’s OBP is .380, his lack of power is a down side. Especially when Loney is playing at the other corner. I wouldn’t mind giving Gordon a shot to regain some confidence and provide a little power for the Dodgers. The only problem is that I don’t really see what the Dodgers would send the Royals in return.
Alex Gordon is moving to a new position, not a new team and his glove (not his bat) is the reason.
This is wrong. You wouldn’t send a guy down to the minors (who’s coincidentally not hitting at all) just to learn a new position. Most player’s are athletic enough to make the transition to a new position without needing to go down to the minors.
Not true at all when you take into consideration that the player has an option remaining and that most position changes occur in the offseason / spring training. Unless it’s an easy move (and an emergency necessity like when Mike Sweeney went from C to 1B due to the retirement of Jeff King). The Royals have the “luxury” of having Gordon get some experience down there.
Coincidentally, Gordon had a .342 OBP when sent down and has a similar OBP in the minors. Small sample size, but there is more to hitting than BA. There was no reason to think his BA wouldn’t improve (and his power numbers as well). He did however have many shortcomings with his glove at 3B and they finally asked him to convert to the OF.
Just throwing it out there, but for some reason I would like the Giants to make some kind of offer to get Alex Gordan. Aubrey Huff is gone after this year, which means Pablo Sandoval can shift over to first base and Alex Gordan can take over third base. The Giants don’t have any outstanding infield prospects other than Noonan, who is a couple of years of way of fully developing into an everyday MLB player. He could be a low buy/high reward player, like Gonzalez was for the Padres when they got him from the Texas Rangers.
florida works well imo, you could see him fitting in well there at 3rd base. Florida perhaps could offer back Miller? Two top flight former prospects that need changes of scenery might fit well?
Callaspo is a stud. Very underrated. Not sure why you had to mock him. Like someone else posted. Getz replaced him. Gordon will be lucky if he ever has a season like Callaspo did last year.
I’ll make a case for my team, This year in Atlanta he could serve as the backup to Chipper at 3rd, provide a nice bat of the bench and spell Glaus at 1st against the better lefties. Atlanta doesn’t have an heir apparent at 3B still and they need somebody. Why not take a flier on a guy with huge potential, who has mashed in the minors. By getting him now you also get to have him in the organization for a few years and let him get used to the NL game. I’d give Kansas City a package like Brett Devall(High Upside)/Todd Redmond(AAA currently) and C Christian Betancourt for him.
While I do like the idea of Gordon with a tomahawk on his chest, I don’t like giving up that much tallent for him. At this point he’s a AAAA player with potential to jump to the majors and make an impact. He may just need a change of scenery. That sounds like a certain pitcher named JoJo I know…
I think it’s fair to say that we aren’t trying Alex out at LF in Omaha every day now for no reason.
Though we have a nice farm system, we don’t have any corner outfielders ANYWHERE. David Lough is our only solid OF prospect, and really the only one.
Gordon in LF and Moustakes in 3B seems nice.
Please AA make an offer For this guy we need a 3B, in 2 years a Gordon, hecheverria, hill, wallace, lind (DH), snider, lewis, wells, and Arrencibia at Catcher, it would be a hell of a lineup considering, the pitchers that are on their way up to the bigs (stewart, drabek,..) and with romero, marcum, zep, cecil, this could be a great team, if they can get some better releivers!!! I think the most logical place for Gordon to land would be toronto, in 2-3 years i think they will start to compete more in the AL east and maybe give the yankees (championship buyers), redsox (championship buyers wannabes…lol) and tampa (amazing Scouts) a run for their money, I never been so excited when my team rebuilds, because I start to see some success from our younger players!!!, Go Jays!, and Good Job AA, please bring us a reliable 3B we need Gordon, I know cito will turn him around( for this year)
not to mention, all of pods, dejesus, ankiel, and guillen will be off the books after this year. CF Lough/ LF Gordon/RF F/A???? for next year.
Braves might be a good fit b/c there are no decent 3B prospects in the minors and Chipper is looking might old these days.
Gordon isn’t going anywhere. I think everyone hopes he gets his head out of his ass and start trying. His trade value right now is so minimal that even the royals know it wouldnt be smart to trade him.
In actuality Getz hasen’t been playing 2b that much the past week. They’ve actually had Mike Aviles at second..Which means YUNIESKY BETANCORT is the man that is getting PT over gordon. I don’t care if Gordon sucks all of the fans would much rather just leave him at 3b than what is going on currently.
I would like to see Gordon in San Francisco. The Giants currently have Ishikawa taking up room on the bench. He is not known for his bat, but has a great glove. The only problem is that Ishikawa is not coming in anywhere as much as expected as a late inning replacement for Huff. I would much rather have GOrdon on the bench as a back-up 3B/1B man and a power bat to pinch hit. This also gives the Giants a replacement in the starting infield after the season (huff is on a 1 year deal).
Gordon is going nowhere. You are all dreaming. Gordon will be KC’s LF next year. They aren’t just going to give him away. His value has never been lower. Dayton Moore may be an idiot, but he’s not THAT big of an idiot.
I would love to see the Tigers acquire Gordon. The Tigers need a lefty power bat. Brandon Inge is a FA and doesn’t bring much in the way of offense. The Tigers do have some decent prospects left. I view Alex Gordon as a perfect fit with this young core. Why take the risk? I look at the Tigers trade for Miggy. Andrew Miller is in AAA and not even on the MLB roster, Cameron Maybin is hitting 245 and has yet to live up to the hype, Mike Rabelo is back with the Tigers, and the others three pitching specs aren’t even in the Majors. I’d be willing to roll the dice. It’s definitely worth a shot and he is under team controll through 2013. It also makes sense as the Tigers have no third base prospect in the minors, Inge is an FA, and Damon might not return creating the need for another left bat. I know a Tigers/Royals deal is unlikely but what do you all think?
Im surprised no one has mentioned this team but how about the Sawx? Beltre is on a one year deal so he’s gone at the end of the season, Lowell will be gone, so will Ortiz. Even if they trade for a big name 1b he most likely would shift to DH, keep Youk at first and try Gordon at third. They have the farm system pieces to get him and Epstein loves buy low players who havent hit their stride much like Hermida.
The Padres analysis is a bit off base. The reason the Padres traded Kouzmanoff in the off season was to move Headley to 3rd base full time. They have a lot of faith in Headley and so far it is paying off. They’re not going to give up on him very easily. Especially with three of their top 10 prospects (according to BA) being 3B in Darnell, Forsythe (although he is attempting a move to 2B), and Rincon.
I would love to see Gordon in San Diego, but I don’t see it being a good fit at all.
The Padres analysis is a bit off base. The reason the Padres traded Kouzmanoff in the off season was to move Headley to 3rd base full time. They have a lot of faith in Headley and so far it is paying off. They’re not going to give up on him very easily. Especially with three of their top 10 prospects (according to BA) being 3B in Darnell, Forsythe (although he is attempting a move to 2B), and Rincon.
I would love to see Gordon in San Diego, but I don’t see it being a good fit at all.
I doubt the Royals let Alex go. Keep in mind when they made the decision to make Gordon the every day LF they sold the guy that had been their every day LF in Omaha, Buck Coats to the White Sox for cash. If they weren’t planning on seeing his transition through I doubt they sell Coats that quickly.
I doubt the Royals let Alex go. Keep in mind when they made the decision to make Gordon the every day LF they sold the guy that had been their every day LF in Omaha, Buck Coats to the White Sox for cash. If they weren’t planning on seeing his transition through I doubt they sell Coats that quickly.