Alex Gordon says he plans to exercise his $13.25MM player option with the Royals for 2016, Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star reports. Gordon is in the midst of a four-year, $37.5MM deal that covered, or covers, the 2012 through 2015 seasons.
Assuming Gordon continues to produce next year, exercising the option would be a highly unusual decision. Declining the option would allow Gordon to become a free agent after 2015, and he’ll head into the 2016 season as a 32-year-old. If he exercises the option, he could leave lots of money on the table. His numbers the last four seasons (he’s hitting .282/.357/.446 this year while providing plenty of defensive value in the outfield, resulting in 5.6 fWAR so far) indicate that he’s worth far more than $13.25MM.
Exercising the option would also cause Gordon to hit free agency at an older age, reducing his potential for a lucrative long-term deal. McCullough writes that Gordon compares favorably to Hunter Pence, who received a $90MM deal from the Giants, and reports that executives throughout the game feel Gordon should be able to get five years and $75MM-$90MM if he declined the option and hit the market after the 2015 season.
Gordon is represented by Casey Close, who did not comment on Gordon’s option. “Casey’s not the boss of me,” says Gordon. “I’m sure he’ll have things to say and whatnot. But when it comes down to it, it’s my decision.”
This raises my opinion of Alex Gordon even more. Loyalty isn’t too common in today’s game. Kudos to Alex gordon for choosing the team over the money.
Exactly. Not like he’s going to be earning peanuts either.
True. And KC has been mutually loyal to him as well. Especially when he scuffled early on in his career and teams were reported to be trying to acquire him. He’s a Nebraska guy playing for the team he grew up rooting for.
I’m not so sure he could get what Pence got, though we’ll have another year to evaluate that. He’s not exactly declining chump change either. He likes where he is and that looks to be worth $13.25 million. Good for him.
Gordon would get more than Pence got.
Wow! Good for him. He’s leading all of baseball in fWAR (I’m not saying he’s the best player in the game). He would’ve been getting offers for close to 100M. Instead he’ll make less than a player recieving a qualifying offer. Good for Royals!
His last statement is exactly what I’ve been trying to say about agents getting too much blame for poor decisions. Agents advise; the players are the boss.
I’d agree with that a lot of the time but when it came to Boras and the QO, it was pretty clear that he was trying to make a statement against the system.
Maybe Gordon is the kind of guy who doesn’t differentiate between having $20MM after lawyers/agents/taxes or having $75MM. OR, MAYBE he’s just trying to butter up the Royals for an extension. Something like 3 years/$51MM or something. High AAV, low on the total years.
I don’t believe he’ll ever become a free agent…they’ll extend him.
That’s what happens when you have with most youth movements. Most of the players come up through the minor leagues together age l and get that special bond and don’t want to split up. Let’s hope Dayton Moore does not split these core players up and David Glass quits being a tight (fill in the blank) and pays these guys.
His player page says he has a 12.5 million dollar team option for 2016. I’m a bit confused here. This article makes it pretty clear it must be a player option though. I know he has not signed the dotted line here but is there some kind of clause saying he has to sign the option by a certain date? 2016 is a way’s off. Is he that loyal that he will sign a player option so early on? I mean Beltran just got 3/45 on those knees and a 31 year old Choo just hit the megabucks. I would imagine a 32 year old Gordon would be worth some coin.
Baseball Reference just has it wrong. Cot’s (link to baseballprospectus.com) has it clearly identified as a player option, initially 12.5MM but up to 13.25MM based on his gold gloves and all star selection.
He likes where he is. He has enough cash for 5 life times. Enjoying the rise of the Royals. Enjoy…
class. reminds me of tony gwynn, how many $$$ did he leave on the table to spend his career in san diego. more players should think like this. you are a multi millionaire either way. but for a few less million you can stay in one town, near home, keep your kids in the same school, be part of a community that you love & loves you, and build a legacy. some things you can’t put a price on. How many mercenary players have there been that have played in a half dozen cities, but arent really more than a blip on that town’s radar, while disrupting their family & friends. Love ya gordo!