Headlines

  • Orioles Promote DL Hall
  • Fernando Tatis Jr. Suspended 80 Games For Performance-Enhancing Drug Violation
  • Tarik Skubal Visiting Specialist With Elbow Issue; Expected To Miss Remainder Of Season
  • Mariners Designate Ken Giles For Assignment
  • Michael Brantley Undergoes Season-Ending Shoulder Surgery
  • Tigers Fire General Manager Al Avila
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2022-23 MLB Free Agent List
    • Top 50 Free Agents
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2022
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Arbitration Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Heyman On Royals’ Pursuit Of Alex Gordon, Rotation Help

By Steve Adams | December 23, 2015 at 6:52pm CDT

The Royals have been told by Alex Gordon’s camp that they have “no chance” to re-sign their franchise cornerstone as things currently stand, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Gordon’s camp is seeking a contract that will pay him upwards of $20MM per season, and Heyman hears that Kansas City has only offered four years, noting that Jim Bowden reported at ESPN that the annual value of said offer is believed to be in the $12-13MM range.

With their chances of retaining Gordon looking slim, the Royals have begun to explore the market for alternatives, writes Heyman, including Denard Span, Gerardo Parra, Austin Jackson and another player who was with Kansas City in 2015 — Alex Rios. Each of those players, with the exception of Parra, is a client of agent Scott Boras, with whom the Royals have negotiated a number of deals in recent seasons. Span, coming off hip surgery, is said to be hosting a showcase for interested on teams on Jan. 8 next month, while Parra reportedly already has three-year offers in hand but hopes to land a fourth year. Jackson and Rios have both been largely absent from the rumor circuit this offseason. Each is coming off a relatively disappointing year, though Jackson was more productive than Rios both at the plate and in the field.

Heyman also discusses Kansas City’s ongoing search for rotation help, noting that while lefty Wei-Yin Chen sits atop the team’s wish list, but they won’t go to six years for him or offer the five-year, $100MM contract that Chen is reportedly seeking. (I’d personally expect Chen and Gordon to ultimately command relatively similar contracts, so it stands to reason that both would be out of the Royals’ price range.) Heyman also mentions Scott Kazmir and Yovani Gallardo, each of whom has previously been linked to Kansas City. He also, however, adds Ian Kennedy’s name to the list of players the Royals like.

The 31-year-old Kennedy hasn’t seen his name come up in many rumors this winter. He got off to a dreadful start in 2015, logging a 7.15 ERA through his first eight starts of the season. However, from June 1 moving forward, Kennedy righted the ship and recorded a 3.41 ERA with a 137-to-38 K/BB ratio in 129 1/3 innings across 22 starts. Though many were surprised to see Kennedy reject a qualifying offer — and that factor does figure to impact his market somewhat — he’s made at least 30 starts each season dating back to 2010, averaging 196 innings of 3.88 ERA with 8.4 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 in that time. As a fly-ball pitcher that is susceptible to home runs, Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium would seem, on paper, to be an excellent fit for Kennedy. Not only does the stadium have spacious dimensions, Kansas City’s incumbent center fielder, Lorenzo Cain, is among the game’s premier outfield defenders. And Jarrod Dyson, who could see a more regular role in the outfield corners next season, has registered outstanding defensive ratings in his limited role in previous seasons.

Share 17 Retweet 20 Send via email0

Kansas City Royals Alex Gordon Alex Rios Austin Jackson Denard Span Gerardo Parra Ian Kennedy Wei-Yin Chen

Nationals Have Spoken To Howie Kendrick, Daniel Murphy
Main
Nobuhiro Matsuda Likely To Stay In Japan
View Comments (41)

Comments

  1. Lefty_Orioles_Fan

    7 years ago

    Well, what teams are willing to offer Gordon 20 million a year?
    Look, I like him a lot too, but he wants a lot of money.
    Also, I hear Gordon does not want to play on the East Coast, so my Orioles be out of luck for Gordon’s services and they might play Kim there.
    Anyway, why do all these players want to much money? I am telling you at some points fans are going to revolt because we are so tired of paying all this money for tickets and our cable bill is sky high because of these outrageous contracts!!!

    Reply
    • Joe McMahon

      7 years ago

      Lol, if teams refused to pay players a lot of money, you wouldn’t get it back in lower ticket prices, the owners would just pocket it.

      Reply
      • jaysfan1994

        7 years ago

        Pretty much as Joe McMahon put it, don’t be naive.

        Reply
    • Joe McMahon

      7 years ago

      Players “want” so much money because there’s a huge amount of money in the game and they can get that much money.

      Reply
    • skip

      7 years ago

      Don’t go! As long as fans go these contracts are gonna get crazier every year!

      Reply
      • Joe McMahon

        7 years ago

        Yeeeeeeah, fans are going to keep going no matter what you do.

        Reply
      • slasher016

        7 years ago

        Not true. Attendance is not the primary factor in player payrolls. It’s all about media contracts.

        Reply
        • raef715

          7 years ago

          true, still amazed by some of the tv contracts being signed for baseball; how many people are actually watching entire baseball games anymore?

          as far as the royals, they have certainly pocketed alot of revenue from all those home playoff games the last 2 years.
          i cant believe they even bothered with an offer that low for Gordon- if he’s going to give a hometown discount it would be more in the 15-17 per year range i would think

    • mike156

      7 years ago

      No one goes to a MLB game to see the owners count their cash. They go to see talent play the game in ways they could only dream of. I’ll get upset about players salaries when the owners stop sticking their hands in the taxpayer’s pockets for free stadiums, when they plough money back into the communities that support them, when they make a real effort at family-friendly ticket sales. Until then, I see this as a game I really enjoy watching, and understand there’s a price for it. I happen to like opera as well–and guess what, there’s a hefty price for that too.

      Reply
  2. Cd360

    7 years ago

    Once Cain and co leave the royals are gonna be a joke again.

    Reply
    • jedihoyer

      7 years ago

      not really, they do have to start trading players after this year though. hosmer, mouse, cain, dyson, davis are all free agents after 2017, so if they trade them after next year they can get major league ready talent in return. still have yordana ventura, sal perez, kelvin herrera, and mondesi jr to build around, and im sure they will hit on some other minor leaguer. davis and cain alone can fetch 3 premium prospects. if the central wasn’t so weak this year i could easily see them and the cubs matching up on a cain deal.

      Reply
      • tuner49

        7 years ago

        KC’s best chance of getting much for any of them is now or at the trade deadline. You won’t get close to Pederson for 1 to 1 1/2 years of any of them.

        Reply
        • jedihoyer

          7 years ago

          pederson had a good half, but really stuggled when the league adjusted. it really is fair value for one of the top 3 CF in the game.

        • Lanidrac

          7 years ago

          Yeah, but the Royals are trying to win again this year. They’ll gladly take a smaller haul for these players if it means another chance at another flag.

      • cxcx

        7 years ago

        Assuming the Royals don’t randomly (or due to losing Gordon) start to blow, they’re not blowing anything up. It would be a slap in the face to their fans to start trading away their stars after like 2.5 years of having a good team just to orchestrate some type of rebuild with other lesser players with a couple more years of control.

        The will most likely let Cain, Hosmer, Moustakis, and Davis go two years from now and collect compensatory picks for them, as they are likely to do with Gordon this year and possibly with Morales next year. They didn’t put together a champion just to blow it up. If the guys leave for 9 figure contracts, that’s a different story.

        The team has a farm system with multiple top-100 prospects. They’ve been spending aggressively on international players. They will continue to collect picks. They will try to extend who they can, probably Herrera and maybe they can get a free agent year out of Moustakis or Cain. That is their model. They aren’t blowing up a great team, that would be an utter slap in the face to their fans. and not be ultimately effective. The rebuild might be quicker but would be less likely to lead to a great team.

        Reply
        • jedihoyer

          7 years ago

          hardly a slap in the face, maybe for an illogical fan that doesn’t seem to realize they can’t afford to keep them, but to a smart fan it is just retooling and not blowing anything up. also they have 1 very good prospect in mondesi and some solid ones. draft picks and international spending take years and years to develop and that would be blowing up the team, getting close to major league ready talent really only creates a bad team one or 2 years max if you do it right, banking on 16 year olds from foreign countries to come through 6 years later is not what they can afford to do. they have to restock when they can. they did win you a world series, now they have to position themselves to win more.

      • jleve618

        7 years ago

        Cain isn’t young, his metrics can only go down.

        Reply
    • jedihoyer

      7 years ago

      after this year, or if they play bad up to the break, i could see a cain for joc pederson and grant holmes or jose de leon deal, then every team wants a wade davis for a season and a half. that alone is enough to get a real rebuild started, hosmer, moose, and dyson would fetch less but u can still get some real talent for them.

      Reply
      • TSertich

        7 years ago

        Why are people talking about a potential Royals rebuild soon. They sucked too long to let their window of contention be 2 or 3 yrs

        Reply
        • jedihoyer

          7 years ago

          because this time they positioned themselves to rebuild on the fly. they might be under .500 one year if they do it right this time.

        • JT19

          7 years ago

          Their low budget prevents them from being playoff competitive for multiple consecutive years (like the Yankees, Red Sox, Giants, etc. Even though those teams struggle some seasons, they have the financial flexibility to sign a big name or two to instantly put them back into being competitive). The Royals are forced to sell some, if not all of their stars just to get good prospects in order to remain competitive. Otherwise they would have to rebuild completely again.

      • yonkers22

        7 years ago

        Cain for pederson and holmes or de leon? Ahahahaha! You must be a royals fan!

        Reply
        • jedihoyer

          7 years ago

          uhm no, you are talking about a 5 win player in a premium postion.

        • tuner49

          7 years ago

          uhm yes, you are talking only 2 years of control now with Cain vs. 5 years for pederson

        • myaccount

          7 years ago

          Cain is a far superior player to Pederson at this point and probably for the long haul. It would certainly take Joc+ for a guy who is arguably a top 10 position player.

        • jedihoyer

          7 years ago

          lol, and by that logic everyone should trade for dallas beeler because he comes with 6 years of control, cain is the better player, which mitigates the amount of control. if pederson stays the same hes an average regular which are readily available on the free agent market. see colby rasmus, dexter fowler, denard span. a player of cain’s caliber playing a premium position are much harder to acquire.

      • Lanidrac

        7 years ago

        Why does everyone want Pederson in a trade? He absolutely sucked in the second half this past season. He needs to show everyone what his true talent level is before teams should consider trading for him.

        Reply
        • cxcx

          7 years ago

          Can’t beat the ol’ buy high strategy, huh?

        • Lance

          7 years ago

          if Peterson had a great year, the Dodgers would never consider trading a low salaried young star and unless they were offered a high ranking pitching prospect in return, I don’t know why they would trade him now!

  3. Zcash10

    7 years ago

    Sign Chen, grab a Latos and then trade for Corey Dickerson and a low tier outfielder to possibly platoon with him or give him days off. He’s a heck of a player and young. Would fit right it with the Royals. And there colors match his High School teams, just makes it that much better hahah

    Reply
  4. stymeedone

    7 years ago

    As a Tigers fan, its nice to see KC checking into the availability of Rios, again. Thanks KC!

    Reply
    • brstreet9

      7 years ago

      Yeah, since the Royals did pretty lousy last year with him on their roster.

      Reply
  5. johnsilver

    7 years ago

    When you are compared to Austin jackson and the numbers are said to be worse? There should be an avoid at all costs stamp all over. That is truly the bottom of the barrel.

    Reply
  6. Matt Galvin

    7 years ago

    Maybe Trade Duffy for an OF.

    Reply
  7. angelsfan4life412

    7 years ago

    Arte Moreno needs to open up his wallet and sign alex gordon

    Reply
    • jaysfan1994

      7 years ago

      Arte Moreno’s wallet is already open and paying Josh Hamilton to play on the Rangers. I wouldn’t hold my breath that the Angels add any major money until he’s no longer owed anything.

      Reply
      • angelsfan4life412

        7 years ago

        He said he was willing to go over the luxury tax for the right player but now he’s not, In shock but maybe it’s the right thing to do till money comes off the payroll.

        Reply
  8. Lanidrac

    7 years ago

    Okay, I can justify $20M or so a year for Heyward with the sheer variety of things he does well in addition to his age and his elite defense, but Gordon?! He’s just an older, poor man’s version of Heyward, so the “poor man’s” part of that comparison should apply. Sure, he’ll still be quite a rich man in actuality, but in comparison to Heyward he should come at a deep discount.

    Reply
  9. jleve618

    7 years ago

    No way I’m paying gordon 20MM a year.

    Reply
  10. gopads

    7 years ago

    Even though you have been a #8 hitter during your prime, please come to SD for 4 yrs 70 million and hit 2nd in the lineup

    Reply
    • rizdak

      7 years ago

      …so Preller can trade you to the Nationals in the offseason to get Trea Turner back.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.
Log in Register

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Orioles Promote DL Hall

    Fernando Tatis Jr. Suspended 80 Games For Performance-Enhancing Drug Violation

    Tarik Skubal Visiting Specialist With Elbow Issue; Expected To Miss Remainder Of Season

    Mariners Designate Ken Giles For Assignment

    Michael Brantley Undergoes Season-Ending Shoulder Surgery

    Tigers Fire General Manager Al Avila

    Matt Carpenter Expected To Miss 6-8 Weeks With Foot Fracture

    Braves Select Top Prospect Vaughn Grissom, Activate Kirby Yates

    2022-23 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings: August Edition

    Tim Anderson Out 4-6 Weeks Due To Torn Ligament In Hand

    Blue Jays Sign Jackie Bradley Jr., Designate Matt Peacock

    Chris Sale Fractures Wrist, Will Miss Remainder Of Season

    Cubs To Release Jason Heyward At End Of Season

    Cubs Claim Franmil Reyes From Guardians

    Fernando Tatis Jr. To Begin Rehab Assignment

    Rockies Claim Dinelson Lamet, Designate Ashton Goudeau

    Cubs Release Andrelton Simmons

    Alex Kirilloff To Undergo Season-Ending Surgery

    Guardians Designate Franmil Reyes For Assignment

    Justin Verlander Reaches 130 Innings Pitched, Vests 2023 Player Option

    Recent

    Tigers Acquire Ricardo Sanchez From Phillies

    Marlins Announce Six Roster Moves

    Rangers Recall Yerry Rodriguez

    Forecasting The 2022-23 Qualifying Offers: Pitchers

    Red Sox To Activate Michael Wacha From 15-Day Injured List

    AL East Notes: Hall, Springer, Franco, Ramirez, Stanton

    Forecasting The 2022-23 Qualifying Offers: Position Players

    Mets Re-Sign Travis Jankowski To Minor League Deal

    Elvis Andrus Frustrated By Reduced Playing Time

    Injury Notes: Colomé, Nance, Mets

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Cubs Decline To Trade Contreras, Happ
    • Giants Keep Rodon, Pederson
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Go Ad-Free
    • MLB Player Chats
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent List
    • Top 50 Free Agents
    • 2022-23 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2022
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • Feeds by Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top
    Close

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version