Alex Gordon re-affirms desire to stay with Kansas City Royals

Alex Gordon was drafted by the Kansas City Royals second overall over a decade ago, and capped his ninth big-league season hoisting the World Series Trophy wearing the only major-league uniform he’s ever known.

It remains to be seen whether Game 5 of the 2015 World Series was a perfect swan song for the longtime franchise cornerstone, or simply just a career highlight for the potential Royals lifer. The four-year, $37-million extension Gordon signed prior to the 2012 season is set to expire. This time next week, Gordon’s agent (Casey Close) will be receiving phone calls from plenty of teams looking to sign the three-time All-Star. But, as he has said since the start of the season, Gordon told reporters on Tuesday night that he wants to stay in Kansas City for the long haul.

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“Trust me, I want to be back here,” the champagne-doused Gordon said. “This is my home.”

If the four-time Gold Glove Award winner wants to stay a Royal going forward, he’ll likely have to leave some money on the table. While 2016 will be Gordon’s age-32 season, he’s established himself as one of the top two-way players in all of baseball over the course of the last several seasons. He was arguably the best outfield glove in the American League in 2015, provides solid home-run and extra-base power, draws walks, has a strong throwing arm, has respectable speed (despite his lowly 2015 base-stealing numbers) and is a good clubhouse guy to boot.

It’s unlikely the Royals would be able to pay Gordon much more than $20-million a season, and even that would be handcuffing them financially. Big paydays for young players like Eric Hosmer, Lorenzo Cain, Salvador Perez, Mike Moustakas and others are looming in the not-too-distant future, and Kansas City demonstrated it could win without Gordon when he missed time late in the season with a groin injury.

That all being said, whether the longtime Royals star will continue to wear blue and white next season and beyond is a total mystery. He clearly has a good thing going in Kansas City both on and off the field, and the winning window for the Royals still seems to be open for at least a few more seasons. But perhaps the money and the opportunity to jump to a big market/bigger city will prove too tempting. It will ultimately be Gordon’s decision, as he’ll certainly have offers from Kansas City and a slew of other clubs vying for his services.

Next: Royals Beat Mets In Game 5 To Win World Series

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