You think Ben Zobrist is underrated?
Alex Gordon Finally Hits His Stride
You’re right. According to FanGraphs, Zobrist’s 6.1 Wins Above Replacement makes him the fifth-best player (by that measure, anyway) in the American League.
Right behind Zobrist, though? Royals left fielder Alex Gordon.
Alex Gordon's career has always been misunderstood. His 2008 campaign, of which there were no champions and innumerable critics, generated a 3.1 WAR (bWAR), thanks to solid OBP skills and a well-rounded game. By way of comparison, Jeff Francoeur has never posted a 3 win season. From a distance Gordon's career looks hard to figure out, but really it is fairly simple: in 2007-08 he got off to a slow start but was establishing himself as a valuable player, in 2009-10 he got hurt, had some ill-timed slumps, and got in the doghouse of a generally stupid organization. Coming into 2011, the Royals simply needed to get out of their own way and give Gordon as full season of playing time. It was, perhaps, his last chance with the organization, as drastic as that now sounds. Gordon has a broad base of skills -- he always has in fact -- which is why he's often been underrated.
Last year, Gordon actually played 68 games with triple-A Omaha. His line?
.315/.442/.577
When healthy and given a real chance to play, Gordon’s always hit.
Granted, it’s not apparent that Alex Gordon was ever going to be the new George Brett. When Gordon, until this season a third baseman, came out of college as the second overall pick in the draft, you could only assume that he would become a good major-league player. Which he has.
At the same time, you can’t blame the organization and the fans for wanting more than just good. The top six picks in that draft?
That’s arguably three superstars, one star (Romero), one bust (Clement) and one ... Well, we still don’t quite know what Alex Gordon is, do we? He’s 27 this season and he’s been somewhat lucky in various ways. So there’s an excellent chance that he’ll never play so well again (or, if you want to be precise, that he’ll never post numbers like this again). But of course he doesn’t have to. Gordon’s sitting at 6 Wins Above Replacement, heading for 7. At just half that, he’ll be worth around $15 million ... still far, far more than the Royals will actually be paying him next season.
Oddly, all of Gordon’s struggles might wind up being a great thing for the franchise. If Gordon had developed as everyone expected, he would command a huge salary beginning roughly next season, or certainly in 2013. As is, he’ll still be relatively affordable in 2013. Which -- if the young starting pitchers ever develop -- is right about when Gordon might actually be contributing to a playoff run.
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