Gordon Stays Home

Alex Gordon reached an agreement to remain with the Royals:

In a historic gesture, one which establishes a new benchmark in Royals franchise history, the team has agreed to a four-year, $72 million contract with outfielder Alex Gordon, a deal which probably ensures the team’s cornerstone will finish his career in Kansas City.

Terms of the deal, which includes a mutual option for 2020, were not disclosed when the Royals officially announced the contract Wednesday afternoon. But according to a source, Gordon will make $12 million this year, $16 million in 2017 and $20 million in each of the final two years. The mutual option year is worth $23 million, or $4 million if either side opts out.

Gordon averaged about 4 WAR over the last three years, and at $7.5 million a WAR and a 10% WAR discount a year, I estimate he should have been worth about $103 million over four years. So he is either taking a big home town discount, or other teams were not that interested in him due to his injuries, one to his wrist and the other to his groin. Even with all that in 2015, he posted a 2.8 WAR. Combine that with losing a draft pick, and the market for Gordon was just not that strong. The Royals could wind up making out very well on this deal.

from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/1RjixUI