2K11: Alex Gordon

[revo]

Perhaps the only one who still believes in Alex Gordon is Alex Gordon, who said after last season that he would "dominate" in 2011.

He was solid if unspectacular in 2007 & 2008 before injuries and a position change turned his 2009 & 2010 campaigns into unmitigated disasters. He hit rock bottom last year with a .215/.315/.355 line in 242 empty ABs in Kansas City.

But he has dominated at the professional level -- just in the minors, that is. He hit .310/.451/.567 in the minors last season in 352 PAs, and has a career OPS of 1.016 in 1,061 minor league PAs.

So why can't a guy this talented hit major-league pitching? How much more time does he have before KC's deep minor league system starts to overtake the once #2-rated prospect by Baseball America?

I think he finally shows he can stick at the MLB level, and will go out on a limb to predict:

.271/73/17/65/11

[Don Quixote]

I see a two-edged sword here. I think his numbers will be pedestrian for a major league OF, and when you've been as highly touted as Gordon once was, those numbers make you look like a failure. Had he not been a top prospect, for KC those same pedestrian numbers would look pretty good.

[Hornsby]

Perhaps the only one who still believes in Alex Gordon is Alex Gordon, who said after last season that he would "dominate" in 2011.

He was solid if unspectacular in 2007 & 2008 before injuries and a position change turned his 2009 & 2010 campaigns into unmitigated disasters. He hit rock bottom last year with a .215/.315/.355 line in 242 empty ABs in Kansas City.

But he has dominated at the professional level -- just in the minors, that is. He hit .310/.451/.567 in the minors last season in 352 PAs, and has a career OPS of 1.016 in 1,061 minor league PAs.

So why can't a guy this talented hit major-league pitching? How much more time does he have before KC's deep minor league system starts to overtake the once #2-rated prospect by Baseball America?

I think he finally shows he can stick at the MLB level, and will go out on a limb to predict:

.271/73/17/65/11

I don't see it...he was terrible again last year, with a .215/.315/.355 line. After a decent August, he fell completely apart, again, hitting only .182. He just seems to have no idea how to handle major league pitchers.

[Erik]

Yeah, there's a very good chance he's nothing more than Andy LaRoche with a higher draft position.

[onejayhawk]

To dominate, he as to hit the ball. This has been a problem. Keven Seitzer is working with him, and KS was a line drive kind of guy, so that is promising (see thread about KS getting the gig, and not posting here.)

That being said, it would not take a great deal of improvement for Gordon to find himself in the meat, such as it is, of the Royals lineup. If he hits .265, his OPS could easily be over .800, say 18HR, 65 R and 80 RBI. That is a very short step from his 2007 and 2008 numbers.

He is soon to be 27. He may very well think this is his now or never year. Who knows, he might be right. This might be the year he gives what those AAA seasons promised.

J

[Porcello]

If he qualifies at 3B I'll probably dial him up one more time, not much upside deep into the CI position.

[onejayhawk]

AG had 10 appearances and 9 starts at 3B. That probably will not do it for you.

J

[joncarlos]

I like Gordon's swing. It's not a long, sweet lefty swing like Griffey. It's mostly a shorter jerk swing like Thome, but there's a hint of longer gracefulness there. Through 50 PAs he is hitting .340 with a 23% K rate. He's hitting a ton of line drives (28%!) and has 5 doubles on his 16 hits. I think he's still going to strike out too much for a plus AVG and I'm not sure he's going to start jacking 30+ HRs, but he looks like he should be a useful player.