The World Series Champion Kansas City Royals agreed to terms of a free agent contract with OF Alex Gordon for 4 years/$72 M. This is a surprisingly team friendly deal well below the $100 M threshold that many analysts predicted for Gordon. There may be multiple reasons why Gordon's market was so weak: 1. He was one of the older free agents at 32 yo by the time the season starts. 2. Teams with money to spend, such as the Giants, already spent heavily on pitching and may not have a lot of cashish left to spend on a frontline OF. 3. Gordon is coming off a down season marred by injuries which may or may not tie in with the age concern.
I think this is a very reasonable deal for KC. I am relieved the Giants did not try to top it with a 5 year offer as that contract would have almost certainly gone bad on the back end.
This contract probably represents a floor for Yoenis Cespedes and Justin Upton as both of those players are younger and have significantly more power. On the other hand, you have to wonder if either Cespedes or Upton will get $100 M with the floor being so far below.
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Looks like Los Gigantes are signing Denard Span, per MLBTR:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/01/giants-nearing-deal-with-denard-span.html