Jeffery Flanagan of MLB.com is reporting that free agent outfielder Alex Gordon has agreed to return to the only club he’s ever played for professionally, the Kansas City Royals.
https://twitter.com/FlannyMLB/status/684745284904157184
SB Nation’s Royals Blog Royals Review is reporting that the deal is for four years and about $70 million dollars, pegging the average annual value at $17.5 million, which is slightly lower than projected. Without knowing the other offers presented, and we never will, it is easy to assume that Alex Gordon took a hometown discount to stay in Kansas City.
Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan has confirmed the report by Royals Review of the financials of the deal:
https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/684746959341539330
Alex Gordon has been on a tear since 2011 when he finally broke out after being a top prospect of not only the Kansas City Royals, but in the entire MLB. He has a career .269/.348/.435 career slash line to pair with three All-Star appearances and four gold gloves.
Alex Gordon had a solid year despite missing time with a freak groin injury suffered while running into the outfield wall. In 104 games he slashed .271/.377/.432 with 13 home runs and 48 runs batted in. Gordon had played 151 games or more every year since 2011 before the 2015 season.
Gordon, 32 has made a reported $41.3 million dollars so far in his career and this next contract will push him over the $100 million dollar barrier in career earnings by its end.
UPDATE:
https://twitter.com/JonHeyman/status/684750516967051264
CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman confirms the “about $70 million” part, locking Alex Gordon’s deal in at $72 million over four years. ($18.0 million AAV)
