I honestly don't think teams care nearly as much about years as we think they do. At the top of the free agent market, I think the most important number is total committed dollars. Years and AAV are important for cashflow purposes, but I think the owners see it as "we are paying $100mm for that player" much moreso than they're thinking "this player will be overpaid on a per-year basis in the last year of this contract," and when it comes to those types of mega-deals, the GMs involve ownership heavily in terms of how they affect the budget. Because of inflation, deferred money can even be an advantage for owners -- they just have to be willing to grant an annual budget exception if it makes sense to do so.

Royals still would love to sign Alex Gordon after bleak start to talks. Also on OF radar: parra, span, fowler, Murphy, etc.

https://twitter.com/JonHeyman/status/684565238386167809

 

Looks like royals having trouble with gordon talks

As bleak as it looks for KC, it's still hard to imagine Gordon leaving and the Sox sound like the only other legit threat right?

This person has followers. Legit at all?

 

https://twitter.com/royalsclubhouse/status/...564379208003585

This person has followers. Legit at all?

 

https://twitter.com/royalsclubhouse/status/...564379208003585

 

He was the guy that first said the Sox were the main competition for Gordon.

This person has followers. Legit at all?

 

https://twitter.com/royalsclubhouse/status/...564379208003585

 

 

This was the same person that said he was gaurenteed to sign before Xmas eve. But it seems he might have "sources" within KC.

This was the same person that said he was gaurenteed to sign before Xmas eve. But it seems he might have "sources" within KC.

 

He was also the only one outside of raBBit connection the Sox & Royals long before the national guys picked it up.

 

I think he gets info but he's also a giant homer & let's that get in the way of the reality of Gordon's situation.

He was also the only one outside of raBBit connection the Sox & Royals long before the national guys picked it up.

 

I think he gets info but he's also a giant homer & let's that get in the way of the reality of Gordon's situation.

 

Ya the guy has been pretty sure that gordon is staying in kc. Don't know if he knows something or just hoping lol

Ya the guy has been pretty sure that gordon is staying in kc. Don't know if he knows something or just hoping lol

 

I think it's a combo of both, lol.

 

I think he's getting second hand info & is just hoping that it's KC he signs with.

I think it's a combo of both, lol.

 

I think he's getting second hand info & is just hoping that it's KC he signs with.

 

Ya he's getting to caught up in a pissing match with people.

Ya he's getting to caught up in a pissing match with people.

 

Yeah... I know he's taking it to heart but I told him he's got to just let it go. Takes away from his reporting.

Yeah... I know he's taking it to heart but I told him he's got to just let it go. Takes away from his reporting.

Could you imagine Ken Rosenthal going all incarcerated Bob

Could you imagine Ken Rosenthal going all incarcerated Bob

 

Ha! Dude, that guy is a nut. 85% of his following is fake & he has multiple fake accounts that he trolls people on. Consistently searches his name, too.

 

Ha! Dude, that guy is a nut. 85% of his following is fake & he has multiple fake accounts that he trolls people on. Consistently searches his name, too.

Haha yup

FWIW this Royal Clubhouse guy says the Gordon contract will be no where near $80 million... I think that would only help us but who knows. As o said earlier I'm starting to significantly doubt we end up with any of the three. I just think we are waiting too long for the market to come to us instead of setting the market by getting creative and aggressive with one of the three. We shall see in the next week or two.

 

Or maybe starting tomorrow if KC clubhouse is right and KC signs Gordon tomorrow.

Ha! Dude, that guy is a nut. 85% of his following is fake & he has multiple fake accounts that he trolls people on. Consistently searches his name, too.

 

Bobs a funny guy. Only sports person to block me on Twitter. All I did was ask him why he got the Dwight Howard to the Lakers news wrong(first time...he got it wrong 3 times if my memory serves me right). I didnt actually know he wasnt legit at the time. I remember some people were giving him credit for the Peyton Manning news when he signed with Denver. But it's pretty clear he guesses. Plus he has an extremely thin skin.

 

That Clubhouse guy seems to tweet a lot of vague info. I think maybe theres a reason for that.

 

Edited January 6, 201610 yr by Baron

http://www.royalsreview.com/2016/1/1/10699...racts-for-teams

 

Argument for why awarding premier free agents 2-3 years isn't much different than paying out on 4-5 year deals.

 

If you scroll down to the comments, there's an interesting five paragraph from Vandalia.

 

"This highlights the important fact that there are two ends in baseball: to provide entertainment (thus revenue), and to win baseball games. The two are not necessarily the same. In fact, one can argue that they are rarely the same. Most of the star players with the mega-contracts will never be able to produce enough value to justify their salaries based on on-the-field performance. However, they put fans in the seats and provide good TV ratings. Therefore they might be good for the ultimate bottom line, the balance sheet.

 

If you sign Zack Greinke or Giancarlo Stanton you are paying a premium for their "entertainment" value. That will never show up on the WAR statistics. On the other hand, if you sign Kendrys Morales, you are paying primarily for his talents at baseball alone. It has been written that the Kansas City Royals of the last two years are a "boring" team without "star" players – and some would argue TV ratings. But of course in KC, you don’t have the surplus population who might come out to the ballpark to see Alex Rodriguez even if they have never watched a baseball game before. To maximize the crowd in KC, you have to have a good baseball team."

 

It's an interesting premise. That Gordon would be worth more at a lesser price to a team where winning is absolutely paramount (like the Sox as well) and where even "star" players (if you want to put Cespedes and Upton in that category) don't really bring in enough extra revenue on .500ish clubs to justify their price tags. And we can study Sox attendance to see there's not much more than a slight blip up when Sale pitches...as opposed to Halladay in Toronto or Greinke in his Cy Young season where 5-10,000 walk ups were typically added for those games.

Edited January 6, 201610 yr by caulfield12

Jeff Passan ‏@JeffPassan 1m1 minute ago

There is increasingly strong sentiment among competitors that Alex Gordon is going to wind up back in Kansas City and it could happen soon.

 

Jeff Passan ‏@JeffPassan 1m1 minute ago

There is increasingly strong sentiment among competitors that Alex Gordon is going to wind up back in Kansas City and it could happen soon.

Good. That would force the Sox to get Cespedes, who I want more than Gordo anyway.

Clubhouse Convo ‏@royalsclubhouse 3m3 minutes ago

If you're playing Keno today, stay close to the numbers 4 and 70.

Sox better go hard after Cespedes if Gordon does in fact go back to KC today. Like, sign him by the end of the week hard.

Sox better go hard after Cespedes if Gordon does in fact go back to KC today. Like, sign him by the end of the week hard.

 

Cespedes likely won't sign until Chris Davis is off the board.

Good. That would force the Sox to get Cespedes, who I want more than Gordo anyway.

Same here. Come on Royals, do the White Sox a favor and sign Gordon already.

 

Jose Abreu, get on the phone and tell Cespedes to quit stalling and just sign with the Sox already.

Edited January 6, 201610 yr by BlackSox13

Clubhouse Convo ‏@royalsclubhouse 3m3 minutes ago

If you're playing Keno today, stay close to the numbers 4 and 70.

 

 

Wow this dude might end up calling this after all. Never would have thought AG would be first. So if this is true it's sh** or get off the pot time for the sox. Now there'll be a whole lot of other teams in on Cespedes, who if the Gordon gets 4/$70, would have to get more than a 3 year deal. I'm preparing to be disappointed.

 

I will say I look forward to Rabbit or Buckets next update if we loose out to see what they are hearing is the confidence level of the FO moving forward after missing what has been said as their first choice in Gordon.

Edited January 6, 201610 yr by Frank_Thomas35

There is nothing good about Gordon going back to K.C. Reduces the supply of impact OFs, doesn't impact the demand for them (if you assume the Royals were all or nothing on Alex), & makes a key divisional competitor stronger. If Upton is a long-shot, then the Sox can't keep dicking around on Cespedes.

Edited January 6, 201610 yr by Chicago White Sox