Alex Gordon

[admo]

I didnt hear about this until now. Dude is unreal.

 

Alex Gordon Wins Spink Award as Topps/Minor League Player of Year

 

Hit it here to go deep

 

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Former University of Nebraska All-American and current Kansas City Royals minor leaguer Alex Gordon was honored this week, as he was won the 2006 J.G. Taylor Spink Award as the Topps/Minor League Player of the Year.

 

On his way to the league MVP award, Gordon hit .325 with 111 runs, 39 doubles, 29 homers, 101 RBIs and 22 stolen bases.

 

Gordon is the second Wichita player to win the Spink Award, joining Johnny Damon (1995). Gordon is now part of a group that includes recent Spink winners such as Major League stars Josh Beckett (2001 winner); Eric Chavez (1999); Paul Konerko (1997); Andruw Jones (1996); and Derek Jeter (1994).

[Eric the Red]

Royals have a potential star in Gordon

 

By Keith Law

Scouts Inc.

Archive

 

When Dayton Moore took over as general manager of the woeful Kansas City Royals, he inherited the worst 25-man roster in the big leagues and an organization almost completely devoid of pitching. But the cupboard wasn't bare, as the Royals had two impact bats already in the barn in Billy Butler and Alex Gordon. Butler is promising because he can hit, but Gordon has star potential because he also plays a skill position.

 

Gordon is something of a left-handed Lance Berkman. He has a compact swing and has plus power, partly a function of his swing and partly a function of his raw strength. He uses the whole field well, with excellent plate discipline and plate coverage. His peak should approach Mike Sweeney's, and perhaps even surpass it in the power department. He jumped directly from college to Double-A, unusual even for top college players, and didn't miss a beat, hitting for average and power while showing good patience and even some baserunning skills.

 

Cold Plate Special: Jeff Clement, Mariners

Jeff Clement was the third pick in the 2005 draft, ahead of big leaguers like Ryan Zimmerman (nearly the NL Rookie of the Year in 2006 for the Nationals) and Troy Tulowitzki (already in the majors with the Rockies) as well as top prospects like Jacoby Ellsbury (Red Sox), Cameron Maybin (Tigers), and Andrew McCutchen (Pirates). Clement went that high because he has big pull power and was expected stay behind the plate, although he was never pretty back there.

 

Now he's already had his first knee surgery, he didn't hit for power in the power-friendly Cal League, and was awful in the Hawaiian Winter League. At 23, he has plenty of time to put his career back on track, but it looks likely that he's more evidence that drafting for need is usually a bad strategy in the first round.

 

Gordon is also a capable third baseman, good enough that the Royals are planning to move Mark Teahen -- who hit like he's never hit before in the second half of 2006, perhaps sensing someone charging up behind him -- to right field. Gordon will be the best player to man the hot corner in Kansas City since George Brett, and as a sort-of local product (he attended the University of Nebraska and was born in Lincoln), he should become a quick fan favorite as well.

 

With him, Butler (a masher who's likely to end up as a designated hitter), and left fielder Chris Lubanski in their 2008 lineup and a few more arms in the system, the Royals look like they're on a quick path toward respectability, with contention just a little bit further down the line.

 

 

 

Keith Law, formerly the special assistant to the general manager for the Toronto Blue Jays, is the senior baseball analyst for Scouts Inc.

[Nicole]

Congrats to Gordon, too bad he is on a team that wont get him anywhere. Hopefully he'll bring something to the royals though one day and get a ring.

[VectorVictor]

Congrats to Gordon, too bad he is on a team that wont get him anywhere. Hopefully he'll bring something to the royals though one day and get a ring.

 

Hey hey HEY!!!

 

Don't you be talkin' about my Royals like that! They're poised to make a run for it* this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*'it' being winning a double-digit number of games.

[Blackshirt316]

He won't be with the Royals for long. They only keep stars till their rookie contract expires and than don't resign them once they have value. (ie. Johnny Damon, Michael Tucker, Jermaine Dye, Carlos Beltran etc.. etc.)

[BIGREDFAN_in_OMAHA]

He won't be with the Royals for long. They only keep stars till their rookie contract expires and than don't resign them once they have value. (ie. Johnny Damon, Michael Tucker, Jermaine Dye, Carlos Beltran etc.. etc.)

Sad that has been the pattern of the past. I'm hoping that the new GM Moore will change that.

[kc_husker]

Dayton Moore will change that.

The royals need pitching bad.

[gamecocks]

The Royals have some quality young bats in their organization right now, but their team success will ultimately depend on if they can develop some quality pitching and not having to over spend on middle class pitchers just to come in and be their ace of the rotation.

[Licensed to Ill]

Goddamn, he has a future