Last week Joe Posnanski wrote an article for the Star about Chris Disco Hayes. Poz has been down on the Royals for over a month now as his optimism was drained by a slew of terrible Royals losses and front office decisions. I'm sure most invested Royals fans could and can relate. In the opening paragraphs of that article Poz dropped a little side note on Alex Gordon:
In Omaha, I watch Alex Gordon mope his way through a Class AAA game. Gordon, of course, was the second pick in the 2005 amateur draft, the can’t-miss prospect, the Midwestern kid with the George Brett swing and the swagger in his walk. Now, after two patchy big-leagues seasons and a third scarred by injuries and strikeouts, he’s here in Omaha, barking at umpires seemingly after every pitch, walking with his shoulders slumped, looking for all the world like someone who has been wronged by life.
I believe(d) Posnanski when he wrote that. I figured Alex was upset at his frustrating season and the way the Royals have handled him, especially this year. I didn't like the implications, however, on Gordon's character. Obviously those words don't portray him in a positive light.
(thanks to devil_fingers for pointing out that last year Gordon was a 2.6 WAR player and 2.1 WAR player in 2007. This year, Billy Butler has been a 1.9 WAR player so far. I say this only to bring into question Poz's description of Gordon's career as "two patchy seasons"... maybe Poz has a point if he's talking about hype and potential, but not so much if he's talking about actual value.)
Yesterday Gordon rejoined the Royals and I was curious if the media would ask about him at all. I didn't hear it myself but apparently Manager Trey Hillman commented on Alex Gordon during last night's post-game show on 610 Sports Radio (thanks RaulDuke):
It’s great to see Alex back. He made the most of his time in Omaha and his work ethic and attitude were off the charts. I caught wind of something that was written (Pos) that said his body language was bad so I asked (Triple-A manager) Mike Jirschele and he told me nothing could be further from the truth. A message to Royals fans, don’t believe everything you read.
I really want to believe Hillman on this one. I do. Perhaps Poz is so down on the Royals that his eyes will see what they want to see. Perhaps Gordon was having a bad game when Poz attended. I'm sure it's possible. Gordon did have a batting average over .300 and an OBP over .400 while in Omaha... so the numbers don't show someone who was totally down on life.
On the other hand, Hillman has a history of lying to the media when it comes to his players physical health... so why wouldn't he lie about their emotional health? I can see no reason why Hillman would lie about this sort of thing but I also didn't see a need to lie about Soria's arm a few months ago.
Gordon didn't play last night in his first game back with the Royals and some on the message boards mocked what Hillman said about Gordon needing rest after lots of travel. But it's been fairly standard that players don't play their first day with the club. Gordon should get penciled in tonight and we can all speculate on his future after the season is over and he's played in 20-something more games.
But the most important indication of Gordon's future might be during the off-season when he'll have the chance to file a grievance with the Royals to get back his year of team control. He's being professional about it right now by not making a big stink out of the situation, according to Sam Mellinger at Ball Star. Hopefully it stays that way, even if a grievance is filed. But Gordon will certainly have the opportunity to make the situation sticky, similar to JJ Hardy. If that happens then maybe Poz was right and we have a lot to worry about regarding Gordon's character and subsequently his longevity in a Royals uniform.
However, if Gordon and his agent keep it quiet this off-season, regardless of winning (or even filing) their grievance, I'll take Hillman's word and feel better about the future of this team and trusty No 4.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
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1 comments:
Hah. I was going to wait until after the rest of the season and compare Gordon's 2008 and Butler's 2009 at Driveline... I even thought of using "Perception and Reality" as the title. I guess we're both big fans of F. H. Bradley.
Not sure why filing a greivance would tell us Gordon is a "bad character." What does it say about the team that they are obviously gaming every player's service time when they get a chacne, but stupidly do it two years too late instead of in 2007 when they could have without a problem? Or how about when the team out-and-out denies it?
I'm not saying he has grounds for a greivance... that's part of the procedure. But given how players both in the big leagues and ex-minor leaguers are talking about the Royals, I'd say the players, not the organization, are the ones who need the benefit of the doubt.
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