Kansas City Royals outfielder Alex Gordon declined his $13.75 million player option for 2016 on Wednesday and elected to become a free agent. He said he hopes to return to the Royals, but his free agent situation is unique and rumors suggest he could end up elsewhere.
He now joins a stacked class of 2016 MLB free agents and his multi-faceted game will be highly sought-after.
Let's take a look at our top three destinations for Gordon.
3. Boston Red Sox
This scenario isn't likely in my opinion, but there's a lot of chatter regarding the possibility, and when that happens it's hard to ignore. The Red Sox have a tremendous outfield with Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Rusney Castillo, but the addition of president Dave Dombrowski perhaps suggests no player is safe (in terms of a trade).
Boston needs pitching most, but the free agent starters are expected to cost an excessive amount and it's unlikely Dombrowski adds another onerous contract to the team's already high payroll. Instead, it's been suggested that he trades for a top starter, and that could very well involve one of the team's current outfielders. If that's the case, they'll save a lot of money.
As opposed to giving David Price, say, a seven-year, $210 million contract, they can acquire a club-controlled starter and sign Gordon for around five years and $90 million. Gordon will not cost as nearly as much as the best free agent starters and his all-around contributions on offense and defense will perhaps be even more valuable.
I don't think this will happen, but it's worth keeping an eye on.
2. St. Louis Cardinals
I mean, is Gordon not the prototypical Cardinals player? Solid hitter, great defender, capable leader, etc. And now that St. Louis will watch outfielder Jason Heyward hit free agency, it's possible they look toward Gordon to fill the void.
Heyward is expected to command a lucrative long-term deal, which usually wouldn't be a problem if people weren't projecting him to land a 10-year, $200 million contract. If that's the case, the Cardinals might back off since the largest contract in the history of their franchise belongs to Matt Holliday (seven years and $120 million). Speaking of Holliday, he's under contract through 2016 (with a team option for 2017) and is the team's left fielder.
I'm not really sure how this would work out, but the Cardinals could make it happen. With Randal Grichuk and Stephen Piscotty slated to be the future of the team's outfield, adding Gordon would bolster the unit even further.
Holliday's defense is nothing special and at 35 it's bound to keep declining. There was talk earlier this year about the veteran moving to first base, so perhaps the Cardinals explore that idea again before signing Gordon. After all, if they lose Heyward they will absolutely need to replace his offense and defense.
1. San Francisco Giants
The Giants can do just about anything in free agency with the money they have coming off the books. They've already been linked to Zack Greinke, Yoenis Cespedes, Justin Upton, Jordan Zimmermann, Jason Heyward and others in rumors. While we can only take all of that with a grain of salt, we also can't rule out the possibility of San Fran making a run at Gordon, who will perhaps cost less than all of the aforementioned names.
San Francisco just declined the options of Nori Aoki and Marlon Byrd. While their outfield is occupied with Gregor Blanco in left, Angel Pagan in center and Hunter Pence in right, it's no secret the team needs an upgrade out there. Blanco is only under contract through 2016 (so is Pagan) and he's more of a depth option anyway. Adding Gordon and putting him in left would improve the Giants offense and defense tremendously.
The defense would especially benefit since Aoki (-0.5 DWAR), Blanco (-0.9 DWAR) and Pagan (-1.9 DWAR) aren't really staunch defenders.
The Giants' infield is already set, so look for them to bolster the outfield and starting rotation in free agency. My prediction is they lure Gordon and Zimmermann to the Bay Area and take over the NL West in 2016.
