First the good news, Royals fans: Kansas City made an offer to free-agent left fielder Alex Gordon, a key piece of their championship puzzle. The bad news? Gordon basically spit on it.
That's according to CBS Sports' Jon Heyman, who updated the Gordon/K.C. talks Friday:
The Royals have made it a priority to try to keep star left fielder Alex Gordon. But so far the sides appear to have a sizable gap in talks. Word is, the Royals made a four-year offer, but Gordon's camp is believed to consider it a proposal that's too great a hometown discount, and has sent back discouraging words about the initial try.
Gordon is thought to seek a deal closer to $20 million annually, but the Royals may view that figure as far too rich for their blood, even with added flexibility. It would be nice to see Gordon, a homegrown player from Nebraska, remain a Royal for life. But at the moment, that seems to be far less than a certainty.
That doesn't mean Gordon will definitely walk. But it undoubtedly calls into question his future with the only big league club he's ever known. The Royals simply aren't in the habit of handing out $20 million-per-year deals to anyone, homegrown fan favorite or no.
Which raises the question: If Gordon does bolt for a hefty payday elsewhere, will the Royals have enough talent to defend their title and keep this run going?
Let's start in the outfield. In addition to Gordon, Kansas City could also lose right fielder Alex Rios to free agency. Rios—who hit just four home runs with an anemic .640 OPS—wouldn't be nearly as big a loss as Gordon, a four-time Gold Glove winner who posted an .809 OPS.
But that's two holes the Royals have to plug on either side of American League MVP finalist Lorenzo Cain. Speedy Jarrod Dyson and Paulo Orlando, who made his big league debut last season at age 29, are currently at the top of the depth chart. Both are fine fourth outfielders, and Dyson's game-changing legs make him an intriguing option to start.
"I think he's capable of stealing 50-plus bases a year and scoring a bunch of runs," general manager Dayton Moore said recently of Dyson, per KCTV's Chris Oberholtz. "When he's on base, we score runs."
But for a team that's about to be fitted with rings, Dyson and Orlando aren't enough. The Royals made their name with a deep, balanced lineup that moved the line and gave opposing pitchers few if any chances to come up for air.
If Gordon exits, they should pursue another name from the next tier of free-agent outfielders, which includes Dexter Fowler and Denard Span.
And the outfield isn't the only place where questions swirl. The Royals rotation won't feature Johnny Cueto, last season's trade-deadline cavalry, after the right-hander inked a six-year, $130 million deal with the San Francisco Giants.
Cueto's departure surprised no one, and his performance with K.C. was up-and-down anyway. But the Royals are currently counting on a group topped by Edinson Volquez—who's steady but not an ace—and the mercurial Yordano Ventura. Yes, they re-upped Chris Young to a one-year pact. That's not going to raise any pulses.
Heyman noted that Kansas City "has its eye" on southpaw Wei-Yin Chen, along with Scott Kazmir and Yovani Gallardo. Chen is seeking a five-year, $100 million contract, according to MASNSports.com's Roch Kubatko, so like Gordon he may be out of reach. But a solid No. 2-quality arm from this depleted yet still deep pitching market would leave K.C. in a much stronger position.
There's plenty to like about this club.
The bullpen, anchored by Wade Davis, Kelvin Herrera and recently added Joakim Soria, remains an unmitigated strength. And even with uncertainty at the corner outfield spots—and Ben Zobrist also bolting via free agency—the lineup is littered with dangerous bats, including Cain, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and World Series MVP Salvador Perez.
The Minnesota Twins are stocked with young talent. The Cleveland Indians are pitching-rich. And the Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox are retooling. The AL Central could be baseball's most wide-open division, particularly if the Royals lose Gordon and don't make any concurrent impact moves.
There's a lot of winter left, obviously. And a gaggle of high-profile hitters—Chris Davis, Yoenis Cespedes, Justin Upton—remain unsigned.
Maybe the initial offer, the one Gordon coated in virtual saliva, was just the first salvo in an ongoing negotiation. Perhaps the Royals really are ready to break the bank to bring him back, to turn Missouri into the Show Me the Money State.
Moore and Co. have constructed a winner without cutting huge checks. They deserve the benefit of the doubt. But without a few more headline-grabbing machinations, the doubts will start to creep in.
At the winter meetings, Moore was asked about the possibility of re-signing Gordon. "I don't know. We'll see," he said, per Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star. "Don't know the answer to that yet."
He might as well have been talking about the whole offseason, and the Royals' repeat chances. Like the Gordon conundrum, everything's up in the air.
That's good news and bad news.
All statistics current as of Dec. 18 and courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.
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